GAP ANALYSIS FOR TALENTED WRITER

BA 301 HOMEWORK 4 TEMPLATE.docx 1

BA 301 – Research & Analysis of Business Problems

Homework Assignment #4 Format/Requirements

 Upload this into D2L by the due date. Do not email it to your instructor.

 Make sure you show your name, course number, and section number on the page.

 Use Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1-inch margins.

 Use research found in PSU library databases, properly cited per MLA format.

 Attach a bibliography. .

Questions

1) FIND THREE CONNECTED GAPS, ONE LONG PARAGRAPH PER GAP: Now that you have written a Situation Analysis, you should have a good overall perspective on

your chosen company. Now, using that information, begin identifying gaps/symptoms,

signs and indicators of deeper problems that might be facing the company. Try to find as

many as you can, but ensure that you have found at least three.

Start big, go small. Review the powerpoint I used in class if you need pointers.

Be specific and use numbers where possible. Cite the data. All of the symptoms that you list

should show a "gap" as discussed in class. A "gap" is the difference between the desired and the

actual.

Once you have identified these symptoms, do additional research and perform a root cause

analysis. In other words - ask why the symptom occurred. Keep asking why until you can’t

answer further. Note that it’s possible that many symptoms may lead back to the same root

cause. Or one symptom may have many possible causes. Summarize this analysis and begin to

narrow the focus of your paper. This analysis is the central core of your problem description and

is a crucial component in your research paper, so I would recommend that you spend some time

on it. You won't be able to develop solutions if you have not answered the question "why did

this happen?"

2) DRAFT A PROBLEM STATEMENT: The answer to this question (the last why) is the

focus for your paper. Conclude with a draft problem statement in one sentence. Be sure you are

not describing a symptom.