This week you learned about the importance of shaping culture and how it is a critical function of leadership. Write a paper on organizational culture. Address the following in your paper: What is culture? Why is it important? Internal integration. External adaptation. Also include a description of a culture for an organization you are familiar with. Identify some physical artifacts—such as logo, mascot, building, advertising images—associated with the company and discuss what underlying values these suggest. The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded: Write between 750 – 1,250 words (approximately 3 – 5 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below. Use font size 12 and 1” margins. Include cover page and reference page. At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing. No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references. Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement. Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style. References must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing. A detailed explanation of how to cite a source using APA can be found here (link).

Discussion 8 - Consumer, Bankruptcy, Tax, and E-Commerce Fraud The three chapters near the end of our textbook book discuss various fraud schemes that, unfortunately, we are all too likely to experience personally, if we have not already.  Far too many of these fraud schemes permeate our society and daily experiences.  Most of you, your families, or loved ones will be touched in some way by one or more of the fraud schemes covered in these chapters.  We certainly can't stop this fraud, but we can educate ourselves and those around us on these schemes, their signs and symptoms, and means of prevention and protection. In this light, this week's discussion will create an open discussion of many of these schemes, helping to educate all of us and raise our level of awareness.  In this way, we are better prepared to avoid these situations, educate others, and help to protect ourselves and those we care about. For this discussion, choose a fraud scheme from Chapters 15, 16, or 17.  Educate yourself on your particular selected scheme, including some outside research to broaden your understanding.  Post a 3 to 4 paragraph summary of the following: Summary description of the fraud scheme (make sure it is a specific scheme and not a category) Educate us regarding the symptoms and warning signs of the particular scheme Summarize a case study example of the fraud scheme, either from research or from personal experience, of the fraud in your life or that of someone close to you  Discuss methods of prevention for your selected fraud scheme, including how you can educate others in your life to help protect them