Assignment 3 @ AUGUST 9th

Format

1. Include a cover page with your name, your company, the term, and course name.

1. Begin your paper on a new page with an Executive Summary that is no more than 1 page long. Brief instructions for writing an Executive Summary.

1. Begin the body of the paper on a new page.  You must use the following main sections for your final paper, with a heading (in Ariel Bold 14 point font) for each of these sections:

2. Situation Analysis

0. This section explores the context and background of the problem solving situation for your chosen company, and it should start on a new page after the Executive Summary. This is the only section that starts on a new page! This is where you attempt to understand the organization’s goals, mission/vision and key stakeholders, and it will guide the rest of your problem-solving activity. This is where you should include financial background information, a competitive overview and a SWOT analysis. Create relevant charts and graphs that will give the reader a concise, yet complete, picture of what happening with the company at this point in time.

2. Problem Analysis & Description

1. Use this section to explore the critical issues facing the organization and ultimately define and describe a problem that will be your focus for the remainder of the paper. In other words, you will solve the problem identified and described in this section in the following sections of the paper. Gather additional data to support issues identified in the Situation Analysis, analyze that data, identify key symptoms, prioritize these symptoms and find connections and relationships between them, if any. Symptoms are the indicators of the ultimate problem. They are the "gaps" talked about in the course video. Provide a clear, focused problem description by the end of the section. Be specific. Include numbers, if you can. Back it up with data gathered during your research. Use some root cause analysis to ensure that you aren’t mistaking symptoms for causes. Refer back to the Situation Analysis section and note any new stakeholders and any conflicts with the corporation’s mission and vision. As I finish reading this section, I should have a clear idea of the problem you are solving throughout the rest of the paper. If there is no single cause for your problem, list the range of possible causes.e

2. Solutions, Evaluation & Recommendation

2. Based on the problem described in the previous section, develop at least two possible solutions and describe them in as much detail as possible given the constraints of the paper. This is the decision-making part of the paper. Use a weighted-criteria decision matrix to evaluate the solutions and make an informed recommendation. Use a Cost/Benefit Analysis as part of your decision-making, either comparing the net benefits of the various options, or to show the Net Benefit of your final recommendation. By the end of this section you should make a clear choice, and present a strong case for why you made that choice. Convince the reader.

2. Implementation & Success Metrics

3. To the extent possible, prepare a brief discussion of how your solution can be implemented.

3. Develop a set of measures that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of your solution in delivering proposed benefits. Discuss when, how often, and how the solution should be evaluated.

1. Your analysis must make use of a 10-K, an industry profile, as well as a variety of other relevant sources that help you take a strong position, including data from your SWOT analysis. Don’t just rehash your SWOT Analysis in the Situation Analysis.  Write a narrative that summarizes all of the relevant information needed for the reader to understand how you got to your conclusions about the problem identification.  Imagine the reader knows nothing about this company.  Tell them enough so that the remainder of the paper makes sense.  This is a research paper, where you must support your claims and conclusions with the sources uncovered during your research. 

1. The narrative body of your paper (excluding cover page, executive summary, graphics like charts, tables and graphs, and reference list) must be between 10 and 15 pages of text using 12-point Times Roman, with 1 inch margins (left, right, top and bottom), left justified and double-spaced.

1. Follow APA style for citations.

Rubric

	Full Credit	Partial Credit	No Credit
Causal analysis, including support from background research, and problem statement & description. (5 points)	You demonstrate the ability to construct a clear and insightful problem statement using evidence from relevant contextual factors.	You have a problem statement that uses some evidence from relevant contextual factors, but the problem statement is superficial or has some ambiguity between cause and effect.	Your problem statement is missing, is unclear, or does not use any evidence of relevant contextual factors.
Research quality, synthesis of a range of information, and effective use of evidence. (7 points)	Your project draws on a variety of relevant and appropriate research to provide evidence for your claims. You use APA citation style correctly, and effectively use both quotations and paraphrasing to integrate information into your own text.	Your project draws on research but relies heavily on just a few relevant sources. You use APA citation style with some errors, and rely heavily on quotations or paraphrasing to support your position.	Your research is missing, or you haven’t made clear to the reader which statements are supported by your research. Citations depart significantly from APA style or are missing.
Evaluation of alternative solutions, decision-making, and final conclusions – including use of decision matrix and cost-benefit analysis. (4 points)	You use a weighted decision matrix to evaluate more than one solution. Your recommended solution demonstrates creativity and takes into consideration the history of the problem, good reasoning, feasibility, and impact.	Your proposed solution is adequate but may lack depth or may not consider the history of the problem, good reasoning, feasibility, or impact. The reader might not be persuaded by your recommendation based on the evidence presented.	Your proposed solution is missing or superficial. Evidence to support your recommendation is missing or does not point to your conclusion.
Format, grammar and spelling. (4 points)	You follow the required format, have the required number of pages, write clearly and concisely, with few spelling and grammar errors.	You have moderate amounts of grammar, spelling and formatting errors.	You use extremely poor grammar throughout with many spelling errors, didn’t follow the format requirements, and wrote less than 10 pages of text.