I’m working on a business law case study and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

HARDY COMPANY
The Hardy Company manufactures small electrical appliances, including electric shavers, electric
mixers, blenders, and irons for the home. The company had recently introduced a new line of
electric shavers for women. In the product design stage of the new product, the sales department
had conducted an extensive marketing research survey to determine exactly what style-color
combinations best suited the market for this new product. The style finally selected was an
extremely modish plastic case with an entirely new shape of cutting head.
Unfortunately, no commercially available fractional horsepower motor could be fitted
into the desired style of case. It was, therefore, necessary to have a supplier develop the required
motor.
The vice president of supply management of the Hardy Company, Mr. Monaghan,
discussed the problem with the sales representatives of several of Hardy’s best motor suppliers.
One of the persons contacted was the sales vice president of the Centennial Electric Company,
which had been one of Hardy’s suppliers for years and was known to have one of the best
developmental groups in the small motor field. In his conversation with Mr. Monaghan, the
Centennial Electric vice president expressed confidence that his firm could do the job, and he
even roughed out a proposed method of attacking the problem.
Mr. Monaghan and the engineering manager were so impressed by the approach of the
Centennial Company, as compared to presentations of the other companies contacted, that it was
decided to award the development work to Centennial. In setting up the contract for this
development work, it was discovered that the Centennial Electric Company had a rigid policy of
billing separately for developmental services only on government contracts. For all other work,
the Company recovered development costs through sale of the motors developed. Consequently,
the shaver motor was developed by Centennial on a “no charge” basis simultaneously with the
product design work at Hardy. Centennial was very cooperative and made several modifications
to the original design specifications. Finally, ten handmade motors of the final design passed
rigorous quality control checks by Hardy engineers. These motors were also provided on a “no
charge” basis.
A purchase contract was then placed with Centennial Electric for the first production run
of 100,000 units. The price of the motors was slightly above the price of a standard motor of
equivalent horsepower ratings, but Mr. Monaghan felt that the differential was certainly not
enough for Centennial to recover the entire development cost over the run of 100,000. He knew
that Centennial had also made a sizable additional investment in special tools, dies, and fixtures
for this motor.
The shaver was a great success and another 100,000 units were produced in the first year.
Centennial had been given the order for these motors on a proprietary basis when it quoted a price
equal to the price of standard motors of the same horsepower rating. A blanket order of 150,000
units for the second year’s production was also awarded to Centennial without competitive bids.
When the contract for the third year’s production was being considered, sales
representatives of four different companies requested the right to bid on motors for the shaver.
One salesman was very indignant and said that his company had been discriminated against all
along and that he knew that his company could make a better motor for the job and sell it for less
than Centennial’s price. Although Mr. Monaghan felt that Centennial had done an excellent
development job and was providing good service on the contract, he wondered how long he
should allow Centennial to have this business on a proprietary basis. He was certain Centennial’s
price was not substantially out of line, but he was not at all certain that Centennial had recovered
all of its investment in development, tools, dies, and fixtures.
Do you feel that the buying of this motor was properly handled? How would you
have handled it?
Should the Hardy Company have solicited competitive bids on this item?
What would you do if you were in Mr. Monaghan’s position now?

For this week, we will look at the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and the Islamic Empires. Read chapter seven in the text  to get started.  
Option A: For option A you will be investigating the Byzantine Empire.  (Links to an external site.)(Eastern Roman Empire).  Read chapter seven in our book and the information at the included web sites below.  What were the outstanding accomplishments of the Byzantine empire (Links to an external site.) under Justinian and Theodora’s (Links to an external site.) rule? What was Theodora’s role in the governance of Constantinople? What was unusual about her role, for the time? In what ways did they preserve the culture of the Roman Empire and help solidify the importance and expansion of Christianity? Don’t forget to respond to one peer. 
Option B: This week we turn our attention to the development and expansion of lslam. (Links to an external site.) I am limiting sources because in the modern world there are so many anti-Islam sites that spread disinformation. I want you to get historical facts. Islam is not a monolithic religion. Under the umbrella of “Islam” are numerous cultural practices and political ideologies that are at odds with each other, as is sometimes the case with Shia and Sunni Islam or   (Links to an external site.)Sufi Islamic mysticism.  (Links to an external site.)Let’s be scholars and really learn so we can understand – just as we did with our other religions and locations. Summarize the rise and main features of Islam.  Then, survey the expansion of Islam -what territories did it include and what were some of the reasons for its amazing success?  Who were the Shi’ites and the Sunnis?  What main issues divided them?  What about Sufi Muslims – what do they believe and practice? Please don’t forget to respond to someone.
The following optional cc video I am including is interesting and very nicely made:

Reply to:
Option A:
The Byzantine Empire emerged in 330 A.D. and lasted until 1453. Constantine, I set the Eastern half of Rome’s civilization at the site of the ancient Greek colony Byzantium. Byzantium was perfectly located to advance trade between Europe and Asia. Constantine made the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. An outstanding accomplishment of the Byzantine empire would be its longevity. In the article, Byzantine Empire, historical authors demonstrate, “ It was the only organized state west of China to survive without interruption from ancient times until the beginning of the modern age” (History.com). The Byzantine Empire had a strong administrative center, a strong capital defense, political stability, geographical location advantages, and control over economic resources within their empire. All of these played a role in how the Byzantine Empire’s flourished. In 527 C.E. Justinian became ruler of the Byzantine Empire. His wife Theodora was a woman with a past not approved by other officials, but Justinian did not care. She ruled by his side and contributed greatly to important decisions made for the Byzantine Empire. Over time she became highly respected, “She would quickly gain the respect by proving to be Justinian’s intellectual and political equal in every way” (Take Online Courses). During this time period, women were seen as inferior and weak to men. In the textbook, In Early World History, authors Brand and Feres illustrate women’s role during this time period, “While women were not granted equal rights, they did enjoy more protection under the law in Byzantine Empire after Justinian ruled” (Sec. 12). Theodora influenced a lot of the changes made to benefit women during this time. Under the rule of Justinian and Theodora, the Byzantine Empire expanded, built spectacular monuments, reformed Roman law, spread Christianity, and reigned as a powerful state. The Code of Justinian was one of the most political contributions made during the Theodora and Justinian rule. In the textbook, In Early World History, authors Brand and Feres write, “The Code of Justinian is a digest of Roman laws, church laws, texts, and other instructional material that became the foundation of Western Law” (Sec.13). These laws helped spread Christianity ideas and also created culture and traditions to solidify the Roman culture. 

I need an explanation for this Blog Post question to help me study.

Walt Whitman and Leaves of Green
Walt Whitman was born not too far from Stony Brook in Huntington, New York (although he would later move to Brooklyn). He is considered by many to be one of the greatest American poets in history, and it’s nice to know that someone so influential came from our own little island.
This reputation mainly comes from his iconic collection of poetry Leaves of Green. Whitman worked on the book for the majority of his life, editing it over and over and over between the first edition in 1855 and his death in 1892.
No one is even sure how many editions there really are, depending on who you ask it could be six different versions or as many as nine. These were not just small changes either, the original book contained only a dozen or so poems while the final edition contained hundreds.
Fun Fact: The book is also featured in a pivotal scene in my favorite TV show of all time Breaking Bad)
And as poetry goes, Whitman wrote some of the most interesting poems ever in this book. Many of them do not really follow a pattern or a traditional rhyming scheme. Instead, Whitman just used whatever style he felt like for each particular poem. This became known as free verse poetry, a style Whitman is credited with pioneering.
An example of this can be seen in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, where Whitman’s third stanza is over 400 words and the following stanza is only 62. So every stanza basically is just formed around what Whitman thinks sounds the best, not some rigid ABCCB rhyming scheme like I learned in middle school.
Finding Meaning in the Little Things
Throughout the first four stanzas of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Whitman spends much of the poem explaining the little minutiae of life that he notices on his ferry ride. This includes the waves, the tide, other boats passing by as well as all the people around him.
He takes his time to acknowledge the things that we usually don’t think about while we’re wrapped up in our own worries of day-to-day life.
The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening,
The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the gray walls of the granite storehouses by the docks
Now, this poem is not meant to be some grand exploration of what life means. There are certainly existential themes explored, but Whitman’s main goal is to create a detailed account of our shared experiences as humans to get a better idea of who we really are.

He thinks about all of the people who have come before him and all those who will come after him. He knows life has an expiration date, and as he takes this ferry across the East River he thinks about all the people who have experienced the same things in life that he has.
Everyone who has ridden that ferry and who will ever ride that ferry will see the waves in the water, hear the seagulls chirping in the air, and watch other boats pass by. By focusing on these details, he is showing that as different as we may sometimes feel our lives can be from one another we all have many shared experiences.
As he rode that ferry and acknowledged all of these shared experiences, he felt closer to the people around him “The men and women I saw were all near to me” Whitman states, “Others the same—others who look back on me because I look’d forward to them, (The time will come, though I stop here to-day and to-night.)”
He feels close to the people riding next to him as well as the people who will ride one day, thinking back to past ferry riders such as himself.
Maybe if we just followed Whitman’s example and took the time to slow down and acknowledge these little moments in life that we all share, we could stop all the fighting and appreciate the things we have in common.
(But then I check Twitter and realize it’s probably a lost cause)
Discussion Questions

What piece of descriptive imagery by Whitman interested you the most? How did he make something that usually goes unnoticed seem fascinating?
What relationship does Whitman feel he has with the past, present and future riders of the ferry?
Try to think of something boring you did today and analyze it like Whitman does to his ferry trip. Can you find the same kinds of shared experiences?

I need help with a Management question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.

Strategy is critical to the process of charting a company’s direction in the business environment. When evaluating strategic choices, it is important to understand key advantages and disadvantages of the various options under consideration. Decision models continue to impact strategy development and should continuously be evaluated, and others considered.
For your main thread, perform the following:

Discuss the process of setting the company’s direction.
Discuss a key advantage or disadvantage created by strategic choices.
Discuss your current decision model(s) and others that are being considered.
Develop an Annotated Bibliography for the references used in your discussion.
Support all of your factual assertions with citations.

Discussion Thread: Setting Direction, Advantages / Disadvantages, and Decision Models 
Strategy is critical to the process of charting a company’s direction in the business environment. When evaluating strategic choices, it is important to understand key advantages and disadvantages of the various options under consideration. Decision models continue to impact strategy development and should continuously be evaluated, and others considered. Minimum of 500 words in the body Minimum of 2 sources from the literature in addition to course texts Current APA format must be used. Use the following outline: Introduction Process: Setting the Company’s Direction with Strategy – What is the process in no less than 200 words Strategic Thinking: Discussion of a Key Advantage or Disadvantage from Rumelt – What is it and why is it important in no less than 200 words Decision Model: no less than 100 words How do my decision models aid / hinder this process and why What other decision models are being considered and why Conclusion Support your factual assertions with citations. Include an Annotated Bibliography, in current APA format, of the 2 additional Sources: Minimum of 250 words in each annotation Summary of Key Points Evaluation of the Quality of the Publication Evaluation of the Quality of the Author(s) Where this fits into the discussion
Discussion 2:
Evaluating the external environment that the company does business in is critical to the process of developing a company’s strategy. When evaluating the external environment, it is important to understand key sources of power or weakness that exist. Decision models continue to impact strategy development and should continuously be evaluated, and others considered.
For your main thread, perform the following:

Discuss the process of evaluating the external environment.
Discuss a key source of power or weakness.
Discuss your current decision model(s) and others that are being considered.
Develop an Annotated Bibliography for the references used in your discussion.
Support all of your factual assertions with citations.

Instruction
Discussion Thread: External Environment, Power / Weakness, and Decision Models Evaluating the external environment that the company does business in is critical to the process of developing a company’s strategy. When evaluating the external environment, it is important to understand key sources of power or weakness that exist. Decision models continue to impact strategy development and should continuously be evaluated, and others considered. Minimum of 500 words in the body Minimum of 2 sources from the literature in addition to course texts Current APA format must be used. Use the following outline :Introduction Process: Evaluating the External Environment – What is the process in no less than 200 words Strategic Thinking: Discussion of a Key source of Power / Weakness ? What is it and why is it important in no less than 200 words Decision Model: no less than 100 words How do my decision models aid / hinder this process and why What other decision models are being considered and why Conclusion Support your factual assertions with citations. Include an Annotated Bibliography, in current APA format, of the 2 additional Sources: Minimum of 250 words in each annotation Summary of Key Points Evaluation of the Quality of the Publication Evaluation of the Quality of the Author(s) Where this fits into the discussion

You have now had the experience of doing the Day 1 food journal using the My Plate meal plan approach. Please review my comments before you do this Day 2 food record. If you have any questions about my comments please reply back to me. I am happy to clarify my comments.
The purpose of doing a second food record using MyFitnessPal (food tracker app) or NutriCalcPlus (NCP) is:
to give you a more accurate picture of what you’re eating and drinking (dietary intake) so you can determine if it’s too much or too little based on your personal weight and health goals as well as factoring in your activity level. A diet and activity log can help identify if you are eating too much or even too little of less nutritious foods as you learned doing the first journal. Eating too much of less nutritious foods and beverages typically results in not meeting your calorie and vitamin and mineral needs. This can result in negative health effects, such as, feeling tired, difficulty concentrating, and being more vulnerable to getting sick as well as other potential health issues, and not eating less nutritious foods may indicate you are being overly strict with food rules which can be unhealthy, The My Plate meal plan does not provide specific details on your macronutrient and micronutrient intake. A food and activity tracker such as My Fitness Pal or the e-text’s NCP diet analysis tool DO provide a detailed breakdown of nutrient intake. I require you to report the following nutrients: macronutrients should be reported in percentages, saturated fat grams, sodium milligrams, sugar grams, fiber grams and calcium %. In MyFitness Pal this information is found in the “Nutrition” > Nutrients and “Macros” section. In NCP it is found in the Nutrients Report. More info below.
to experience the use of a food and activity tracking app as a tool that was chosen to provide convenience, and easy access to analysis of your dietary intake. MyFitness Pal just happens to be a popular one, but there are many available that some of you may already be using. You may use another app, but it will need to provide the nutrient information that is required for this assignment as indicated on the journal template and mentioned above. Your subscription to the McGraw Hill etext also includes a diet analysis app called Nutri Calc Plus. Many of you used it for the MyPlate Food Journal assignment. It is a very user-friendly diet analysis tool. A benefit of using this one is it does provide the information regarding your progress in meeting My Plate Plan goals AND nutrient information. MyFitness Pal does not report progress with My Plate meal plan goals, but I wish it did. However, NCP does not have an app and so some of you likely prefer using an app vs online access only.
to help you identify factors that influence your diet decisions such as how often you eat, where you eat, physical hunger and fullness, mood and or emotions you are in while eating and making food decisions, and others factors that influence your food choices as discussed in Chapter 1.1 (What Influences Your Food Choices?). It also requires you to specify your physical hunger and fullness using the Hunger/Satiety Scale that was introduced to you in chapter 1.
is to help you identify your personal assessment of doing the food journal and identifying your food behaviors.
Complete a 4-question subjective survey. The survey is listed as a separate item in this module.
As you go about your day to day activities, this assignment may help you better understand if your diet is an obstacle to your healthy eating goals or supports not just your health goals, but additional goals you have set for yourself including academic and other wellness goals. The food journal template provides you the experience of using 3 different approaches to weight management and meeting nutritional goals.
1) calorie counting (MyFitnessPal, NCP),
2) meal plan (My Plate)
3) mindful eating (Intuitive eating using hunger and satiety cues as discussed in chapter 1).
You may find that you prefer one approach to another OR, you may like taking a little from each approach and adapting aspects from each to meet your own personal diet approach. It is completely up to you, but it needs to support BOTH your physical and mental health needs.