Company Management Portfolio

Appendix C -  Paper Parameters

1. Company Synopsis

Your first task was to study this company during the semester in terms of its management processes via the Chapter Analysis Questions. Now, you need to take the answers from your questions and create a one page synopsis of the company you would think you would like to work for. The whole point of answering the Management Portfolio questions is to be able to describe and analyze your chosen company and to demonstrate that you can apply relevant course concepts and models from the course.

2. Needed Skills and Abilities

Based on your company research and analysis, describe the skills and abilities likely desired by this company. Much of this information can be obtained directly from company websites, but can also be inferred from the strategy and structure of the organization, as well as contacting their Human Resources department. Given a particular business strategy, what kinds of skills and abilities will be most prized in this company? This section should be approximately three quarters of a page.

3. Gap Analysis/Action Plan

The next step is to do an honest inventory of your current skills and abilities. This part of the paper is not designed to persuade the company that you are the best possible candidate for the job, but rather is the basis for developing an action plan for becoming the best possible candidate. So, for example, if you find that entry level positions at an accounting firm require a degree in accounting and a 3.0 grade point average that will not be sufficient. What will distinguish you from the thousands of other students graduating with a degree in accounting with a 3.0 grade point average? How will you separate yourself from the rest? This part of the paper is intended to define the "gap" between what the company would want from its top candidate, and what you currently have in your bundle of skills and abilities. In doing so, there needs to be some discussion that explains your gap analysis table. In particular you need to give a detailed description of your past job experiences as they relate to the specific skills and abilities required for your chosen job. You will also describe the evidence you could present to the company that you have achieved some of the needed competencies.

This first part should be a half page to a page in length. Once you have done this, create a plan outlining what you are going to do between now and when you go out on the job market to acquire the skills and abilities that you will need to become the company's most attractive recruit. As with your gap analysis, avoid simplistic statements such as "get my degree in accounting." Think in terms of skills, abilities and competencies rather than majors, courses, or job titles. This second part of the section represents an action plan for obtaining the competencies necessary to be the most attractive candidate applying to your chosen company and should be a half page to a page in length.