Firm project

ASSIGNMENTS

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

1. Group project (Group effort)

The goal of the project is to evaluate the competitive advantage of a firm by analyzing a company of your choice and how the company competes in an industry. It can be an industry you want to learn more about and/or a company you want to work for. The more you put into the process, the more rewarding the experience will be for you. Form a group of 4 students and decide what industry and company you want to study for the group project. I advise you to get started on this assignment as early as possible. Email me your industry/company choice by the end of the first week. This is to ensure no other group will duplicate the same effort for our collective learning.

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the competitive advantages of the firm of your choice. The deliverable takes the form of answering the following questions by applying the frameworks/tools learned from this course. Students should find a focal issue for the project first. Introduction and conclusions are required to ensure that each chapter works together as part of a single essay.

1. Introduction: Company Description. What is your topic? What is your plan to conduct the inquiry? How is your paper organized?

2. Conduct a PESTEL analysis to identify external forces affecting the industry your company is based. 

3. Apply the Porter’s Five Forces Model to the industry in which your company is based. What does this model tell you about the nature of competition in the industry?

4. Analyze your company’s resources, capabilities, and competencies. Do any of them provide the basis for a competitive advantage? Why or why not? 

6. Apply a SWOT analysis. What strategic imperatives do you arrive at? 

7. Identify the major business level strategy the company uses. How do you assess them in terms of gaining and sustaining competitive advantage?

8. Conclude by evaluating whether your company has a competitive advantage or disadvantage in its primary industry. Why or why not?

Late Submissions and Lack of Professionalism

Penalty points will be assigned to the project for late submissions. Inadequate or poorly prepared submissions will be considered a failure of submission. Remember, while the project is strategy analysis, it is still a formal document that should demonstrate your level of professionalism. All groups are strongly recommended to run a draft by the CBPA Writing Center.

Note: A lack of professionalism (no names, titles, page numbers, inconsistent styles, failure to comply with the requirements, any irregularities and etc.) in terms of the quality of the manuscript may result in disqualification of the submission.

Rubrics for All Written Assignments

Quality of delivery Contents	Well-developed argument	Average	Needs more development	· Poorly developed · Lack of professionalism
Highly original (+) Excellent use of concept	A/A-	B	B-	C
Adequate use of concept	B	B-	C	D
Weak use of concept	B-	C	D	F
Irrelevant use of concept	C	D	F	F

Tips for Write-Up:

Your primary deliverable for the project is a  professional-quality  strategy analysis report. The content of your report should contain the elements presented in this ‘assignment.’ Personalization and customization of your report is generally applicable.

Tables should be formatted as follows: Arrange the data so that columns of like material read down, not across. The headings should be sufficiently clear so that the meaning of the data is understandable without reference to the text. Tables should have titles and sufficient detail in a legend immediately following the title to be understandable without reference to the text. Each column in a table must have a heading, abbreviations, and when necessary, should be defined in the legend or footnote.

Note that a straight Excel file or screen capture is not an acceptable format. Excel files should be converted to a Word document. Images or graphics must be included as figures in an acceptable format.

2. Presentation (Group/Individual effort)

You will have a limited time to make your presentation (usually 15 minutes for presentation and additional 5 minutes for Q&A), so it will need to be concise and well-rehearsed. While the submission of the video will be managed by one person representing the group, all of the group members are required to participate in the presentation. While you have the freedom to choose the technology to record the video, Zoom is commonly recommended as it allows effective collaboration of multiple people without making physical contact. Absence on the presentation will result in zero for the individual.

3. Comprehensive Exam (Individual effort)

Exam is on-line and will be closed book. They are to be completed individually; working with others in any way will result in an academic honor code violation. You should not use your textbook or any other sources, including a dictionary, to complete the exams. The exam will be timed for 60 minutes in general. See the dates for the exams in the Weekly Schedule. Students must follow the rules listed below:

1. Respondus Lockdown browser with the monitoring videos will be used as an online proctoring system.

2. Equipment, such as computers or laptops, should be checked prior to the exam date. Consult with JHBC Tech support or any other university resources.

3. Closed-book exam for approximately two periods (60 minutes)

4. You are to SIT alone in the exam room.

5. No Eating or Drinking. (Drinking water is okay)

6. TURN OFF all electronic devices.

7. No bathroom breaks. Once you leave the room, there is No Returning.

8. Should the class use any other professional proctoring technology/service, students are responsible for paying fees. Students are highly recommended to check technical requirements as soon as possible (find relevant information provided by the linked website).

4. Class Participation, Contribution, and Professionalism (Individual)

· Students are responsible for making thoughtful responses to the discussion questions selected for the chapter assigned to each week and responding to those posted by others. The questions can be drawn either from their reading assignments (mostly textbook) or current events. For your convenience, a weekly forum is created with an assignment of discussion questions drawn from the textbook. This is intended to be a self-learning module, where students are learning from each other. Instructor will monitor activities there while minimum presence will be maintained. The responses have to be posted no later than Friday of each week.

· Use external sources to organize your responses.

· Demonstrate your analytical reasonings for your original thoughts.

· Try to use high level of professionalism when you engage with others online.

5. Quizzes (Individual efforts)

Please note the quizzes are given only to give students a tool of self-assessment, thus it is open source. A set of four quizzes will be given at each module. Each quiz is worth 5%. Due dates are given to the links on the course websites.

Format for ALL Written Assignments

Written assignments will be evaluated on the quality of contents, analyses, clarity of expression, and professionalism of the manuscript. Success in a professional career is truly impacted by your ability to clearly and professionally communicate your ideas and relevant information, whether it is to employers, executives, investors, customers, suppliers, or employees. All assignments are to be the students’ original work.

All written assignments will use the following format and are to be posted in Blackboard.

Must be a WORD document.

· Always include assignment or project title, name of students, and the date of submission.

· Always use headings and sub-headings when appropriate.

· Always include a title page.

· Always include a table of contents.

· Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper and bring it to the class session in which the assignment is due.

· Double-space the text of your paper and use Times New Roman. The font size should be 12 pt.

· Leave two spaces after periods or other punctuation marks.

· Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.

· Do not indent the first line of paragraphs.

· Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, ½-inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

· Always cite your resources in text and on a reference page at the end of your paper.

All written work, whether a paper, assignment, a summary, or a short-answer essay, should exhibit the following characteristics. Although each characteristic refers to "the paper," the student may substitute with "the summary," "the test answer," or the name of any other written assignment.

Main Idea

The paper is focused, meets the expectations set up by the writer, and makes these expectations clear to the reader. The paper shows a clear sense of purpose.

Well-Organized

The paper is clearly developed; transitions are clear from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. In other words, the writer has not simply made a series of unrelated or vaguely related statements. Rather, each sentence and paragraph carries the reader closer to an understanding or appreciation of the writer’s goal.

Support

The writer provides specific, concrete, and appropriate information from memory, observation, reading, interviewing, or other sources. The paper is well developed with examples, details, illustrations, anecdotes or the like.

Style

Sentences are varied and word choices are accurate. There is an absence of “clutter” or “padding”. Phrasing is clear and direct. Tone is handled consistently; sentence length and word choices are appropriate to the audience and purpose of the piece.

Mechanics

Punctuation, grammar, spelling and aspects of format are handled correctly. The writer has prepared the paper carefully with attention to appearance and other details. Opening, closing and title are strong and contribute to the sense of purpose, focus and unity of the piece of writing. Elaborated discussion can be summarized by using bullet points, but bullet points should not be used to deliver your idea as a main method. Tables and figures always need titles and numbers.

Proofreading

It is strongly encouraged to run a draft by the CBPA writing center before submission for multiple rounds. Before you run it for reviews, ask yourself the following questions:

· What is my major point?

· Have I supported generalizations, opinions and conclusions with specific examples?

· Have I avoided using unnecessary words and clichés?

· Have I proofread for spelling, punctuation and typographical errors?

· Have I used the grammar and spell-check program in my word processing software? Did I make the correct choices in accepting or rejecting the grammar and spelling suggestions?