BACKGROUND INFORMATION The individual project assignment is designed to simulate a consulting project. You will act as a consultant that is hired to diagnose and resolve a business problem for a real business (this business would be your consultancys client). ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Select a small business (<100 employees, no chains/franchising, such as Starbucks, McDonalds, etc.) non-business organization (charity, not-for-profit, etc.) of your choice. Research current issues relating to its management and strategy. You may address issues that are problems or opportunities to the organization. Analyze and summarize the issues that you found using business tools, concepts or frameworks discussed in our course. There are three parts to the individual project assignment as outlined below:

1. INDIVIDUAL PROJECT PROPOSAL (5%)

The purpose of the individual project proposal is to get clarity on what you need to accomplish, what business or organization you are analysing, the key issues the business is facing and the key dates for completion of tasks. In your individual project proposal, please include at a minimum: 1. Business or Organization you are analyzing, including contact details, and the rational for choosing that specific business or organization. 2. Two to three issues identified, and how they were identified, e.g., did management point out a known problem, do you work there and have observed an issue? 3. Timeline for your work I have provided a template for the individual project proposal on Moodle for you to use. You can customize the template by removing fields you do not need or adding more. If you would like to use a different template, please contact me for approval first.

BUSI 1110 Individual Project Assignment Summer 2021 Doug Eveneshen 2 The individual project proposal will be graded out of 5 as follows:

GRADING CRITERIA INDIVIDUAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

Organization: Maximum Mark Introduction, Business Issues Identified, Timelines 1 Choice of Organization: Justification 1 Identified Issues: Relevance for management, proposed evaluation tools 2 Professionalism: Writing Style, Layout, Free of errors, Quality, Concise 1 Total 5

2. LIVE INDIVIDUAL PROJECT UPDATE (3%) You will be selected at random from the class to provide a short (5-7 minutes) update report during the live session (see Moodle and course schedule for dates). In your update, please cover the overall progress on your project including: the two to three issues identified and how you plan to analyze each issue report sections completed so far overall % estimate of report complete and how/when to complete the remainder of report any key problems faced during the project, such as problems while researching the identified issues (e.g. no clear solutions found, goal conflicts between issue solutions solving one problem may make the other one more severe)

You are welcome to use slides, a document or just speak to your project in this update, however, this update must be provided live in class (see Moodle) and you will be required to speak as part of the update. Failure to attend the live class or speak as part of the update will result in loosing all marks for this part of the project.

GRADING CRITERIA LIVE GROUP PROJECT UPDATE

BUSI 1110 Individual Project Assignment Summer 2021 Doug Eveneshen 3 Maximum Mark

Progress issues identified and plans to analyze each issue % complete, sections left to do and how/when plans to complete remaining report 1 Problems faced: Problems with company, in analysis 1 Format/Professionalism: length, engaging for audience, professional communication 1 Total 3 INDIVIDUAL PROJECT REPORT (17%) Your report should be 3,000 4,000 words, including tables, figures, text, etc. The title page, letter of transmittal, any appendices and bibliography (references) page do not count towards the report word limit. The report must be professionally written, well-organized and include the following sections: Letter of Transmittal - imagine you are a Consultant hired to analyze a company. Attach a proposed brief letter to the front of your report thanking your client for giving you the opportunity to be of assistance. Title Page - include the name of the project, your name and student ID, the instructor's name, course number and section number, and date of submission for the report. Table of Contents - be sure to list page numbers. Executive Summary (WRITE IT LAST) - summarize your key points of your report. Explain the issues your report is analysizng, your recommendation and the resources required (approx.. 250 words). Place the Executive Summary immediately after the Table of Contents. Remember this is your chance to catch the attention of the business executives (i.e. CEO). Main Body - five sections of the main body as described below. 1.0 Identification of Key Information about the Organization A brief overview of the organization, its objectives (if known), its product(s) or service(s), the key customer(s), key individuals in the organization (if known), relevant industry information, current situation, and any assumptions which help clarify the facts. (approx. 250 words)

BUSI 1110 Individual Project Assignment Summer 2021 Doug Eveneshen 4 2.0 Central Problem(s) and Issue(s) A clear, concise description of the key issues (problems or opportunities) affecting the organization. Limit yourself to 2 3 issues. Describe the issues you are focusing on in your report, how you identified them (did management point out a known problem, do you work there and have observed an issue, etc.), and why you think these 2-3 issues are important for the business to address (approx. 500 words).

3.0 Situational Analysis & Organizational Assessment Identify and use one or two topics from the course to analyze the issues you identified in the organization. As an example, you may find declining sales as a key issue in your business. Ask yourself what could be causing this using analysis and tools from our course. The reason for declining sales could be because of declining customer satisfaction which is caused by low employee moral and low motivation which could be caused by unfair pay for employees (which you may have uncovered using Equity Theory of motivation). You will need to explain this in your report in writing but are welcome to use a chart, diagram, figure etc to support your analysis (see example below).

In your analysis, describe the tool/framework you are using and apply it to the issue you are analysing. This is a key part of the report where you heavily use business tools, concepts, terminology and frameworks. (approx. 1,000 words) Your analysis should consider any of the following business areas which may be relevant to the issues identified in Section 2: Management Skills & Functions Ethics & Social Responsibility Financial/Accounting Situation Business environment (PEST) Human Resources Marketing Operations Management Strategy (Porters 5 Forces, SWOT, etc.) Unfair compensation for employees (Equity theory)

Low employee motivation

Declining customer satisfaction

Declining sales revenue

BUSI 1110 Individual Project Assignment Summer 2021 Doug Eveneshen 5 Be sure to use at least one relevant business management framework , tools, concepts in your analysis of each issue (e.g. if you have two issues, use and discuss two frameworks, if you have 3 issues, use and discuss three frameworks) At the end of this section, summarize your analysis with an overall assessment statement concerning the viability of the organization.

4.0 Alternatives and Evaluation Describe alternatives which address the identified and analyzed issues, and evaluate the Pros and Cons of each alternative. You should provide at least two different alternatives for each key issue. In your analysis, please include, for each alternative: The estimated cost, the

expected consequences (such as the return, profit, revenue, Return-on- Investment), and a high-level overview of the risks.

5.0 Recommendation and Implementation Select the best alternative as your recommendation and explain the reasons for your recommendation. Be sure that your solution addresses the key issues in Section 2.0, and is logical based on your analysis in Sections 3.0 & 4.0. Summarize the actions and resources (time, expertise/people, money, etc.) required to implement your solution.

Bibliography - cite all reference materials used in your report in APA style. Include at least 5 high-quality references in the bibliography that you have used in your report.