Operations Strategy

ITS 631: Paper #2 Spring 2019 IG Dr. Ward-James

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Chapter 3: Operations Strategy & Ch. 4: Product & Service Innovation

Any company, regardless of size, product or service, is one to which you can apply the principles

of operational excellence. The basis for this paper will be either a factual case from your own

work experience or a published case. For this paper, you will describe the situation in the case

and then apply appropriate principles of operations strategy (Ch. 3) and product and service

innovation (Ch. 4). The case should be treated as a problem presented to you by your

company’s top management for analysis and a recommended course of action. In the paper,

you will discuss and make a recommendation for improvement in the operations of the

company based on the concepts you learned in chapters three and four.

Your paper should be at minimum 8 double-spaced paragraphs. Each paragraph should

contain at minimum 4 sentences.

Your paper will include the following.

Paragraph 1: Company Overview

Paragraph 2: Situation/Problem

Paragraphs 3-5: Recommendations from Ch. 3: Operations Strategy

Paragraphs 6-8: Recommendations from Ch. 4: Product & Service Innovation

References must be formatted in APA. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a

zero grade. Please review the Academic Dishonesty Policy outlined in the syllabus and in your

student handbook.

Rubric for

Criteria for Grading Papers 1-6

Criteria

A B C F Points

Earned

Knowledge of Subject

Matter (40 pts)

Student showed depth of knowledge of subject

matter well beyond citing the textbook;

writer cited more than the minimum number of

references; all statements and opinions were supported by

appropriate citations from the literature.

40 – 36 points

Student showed knowledge of subject matter beyond citing the textbook; writer cited the minimum

number of references; most statements and

opinions were supported by

appropriate citations from the literature.

35 – 32 points

Student showed knowledge of subject

matter primarily limited to the textbook; writer

cited the minimum number of references; some statements and

opinions were not supported by

appropriate citations from the literature.

31 – 28 points

Student showed little knowledge of subject matter; writer may not

have cited the minimum number of references; many statements and

opinions were not supported by

appropriate citations from the literature.

27 points

ITS 631: Paper #2 Spring 2019 IG Dr. Ward-James

______________________________________________________________________________

Quality of Research (30 pts)

Student did an exceptional job of integrating course

readings with additional research. Sources

listed were all scholarly or practitioner journals,

newspapers, or academic books from

the last ten years. 30 – 27 points

Student did a satisfactory job of integrating course

readings with additional research. Sources listed were primarily

scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers,

or academic books from the last ten years.

26 – 24 points

Student did a less than satisfactory job of integrating course

readings with additional research. Some

sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers,

or academic books from the last ten years.

23 – 21 points

Student did an inadequate job of integrating course

readings with additional research. Many of the sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers,

or academic books from the last ten years.

20 points

Presentation of Ideas and Mechanics

(20 pts)

Student presented ideas in a compelling

manner with no distracting writing,

grammar, or spelling problems; the page

length requirement was met.

20 – 19 points

Student presented ideas presented in a

clear, coherent manner with few distracting writing, grammar, or

spelling problems; the page length

requirement was met.

18 – 16 points

Student presented ideas in a coherent

manner with several distracting writing,

grammar, or spelling problems; the page

length requirement may not have been met.

15 – 14 points

Student presented ideas in a poorly

organized or incoherent manner with many distracting writing,

grammar, or spelling problems; the page

length requirement may not have been met.

13 points

APA formatting

(10 pts)

All citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained one or two

minor errors. 10 - 9 points

Most citations, quotations, and references were

properly formatted or contained several minor

errors. 8 points

Some citations, quotations, and

references were not properly formatted or contained major errors.

7 points

Most citations, quotations, and

references were not properly formatted or

contained many errors. 6 points

Total Points Earned

(100 points max)