Individual Learning Project 1 Instructions
Company Analysis and Evaluation Project
In this project, you will select an organization, or a segment of an organization, and interview key employees in order to gather information concerning the organization’s critical success factors (CSFs). Be sure to inform your interviewees that any proprietary information included in this project will be kept confidential. You will then develop a SWOT analysis to clarify and aid in the identification of the organization’s/segment’s CSFs. The written project requires you to prepare and submit the following in order:
- Brief description of the organization/segment (1 paragraph)
- SWOT analysis in chart form containing the following 4 categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each item must be clearly and concisely stated.
- Balanced Scorecard in chart form. Clearly and concisely list CSFs in each of the 4 categories identified in the text. For each CSF, explain in a separate column how the measurement of the CSF will transpire.
- A discussion of the CSFs chosen for the organization/segment – Why were these particular factors selected? Why are they important in accessing the success of the company? (2–3 pages)
- An evaluation of the organization/segment to determine if it is achieving each of the CSFs. Analyze each CSF and use data from the measures indicated in the Balanced Scorecard as support for the conclusions. (2–3 pages)
Additional guidelines:
- The project must be at least 5 pages, excluding the 2 charts.
- The project must be written in current APA format.
- Avoid using first and second person (e.g., “I,” “we,” “you,” etc.).
- You must reference a minimum of your textbooks and 2 additional scholarly sources. Wikipedia, Investopedia, and the like are not considered scholarly sources and should not be used. Any use of these sources will be grounds for a 100-point deduction.
- Any personal communication must be cited appropriately within the text; however, citations of personal communication are not needed for the reference section.
- The project must include a properly formatted cover page.
- An abstract and table of contents are not needed.
- The final assignment must be submitted via the SafeAssign submission link.
- If the information within the SWOT chart or the Balanced Scorecard chart needs to be cited, you may deviate from current APA format and use superscripts, with the citations placed underneath the chart. This is the only deviation from the current APA manual that is allowed.
See the Course Syllabus for the Late Assignment Policy. See the grading rubric for more information concerning the point breakdowns.
Individual Learning Project 2 Instructions
Contemporary Management Technique Research Paper
Based on your evaluation of an organization or a segment of an organization in Individual Learning Project 1, select 1 contemporary management technique (i.e Lean accounting, Total quality management, Business process improvement, Benchmarking, the Theory of constraints, Sustainability, Enterprise Risk Management, life-cycle costing, target costing, business analytics, activity based costing/management, value chain or strategy map) not currently being implemented in the organization/segment that could aid the organization/segment in achieving its critical success factors (CSFs).
Using the electronic databases provided by the University library and other sources, search for journal articles in professional, peer-reviewed accounting and business journals that pertain to the contemporary management technique chosen.
Write a research paper in current APA format. The paper must be 10–15 double-spaced pages, with 1-inch margins and current APA pagination. The font must be 12-point Times New Roman. The paper must include references from at least 5 different sources. Be sure to include a title page and a reference page in addition to the essay pages. The title page and the reference page do not count as part of the 10–15-page length requirement.
The paper must address the following in order:
- Rationale for the contemporary management technique selected
- In-depth analysis of the technique, in which you fully describe the technique, its implementation process, its application by other organizations, its applicability to your organization/segment, and your plan for implementation
Additional guidelines:
- Avoid using first and second person (e.g., “I,” “we,” “you,” etc.).
- You must reference a minimum of your textbooks and 5 additional scholarly sources. Wikipedia, Investopedia, and the like are not considered scholarly sources and should not be used. Any use of these sources will be grounds for a 50-point deduction.
- Any personal communication should be cited appropriately within the text; however, citations of personal communication are not needed for the reference section.
- An abstract and table of contents are not needed.
- The final assignment must be submitted via the SafeAssign submission link.
| Name of Company: |
OPTIONAL BALANCED SCORECARD TEMPLATE
| Balanced Scorecard | |||||
| Perspective Category | Critical Success Factors | Objectives | Measures | Targets | Supporting Initiatives |
| Learning and Growth | EXAMPLES: | Example measures of success: | |||
| Competence | Competence of managers (education attained), rate of turnover, training, experience, adaptability | ||||
| Employee morale | Morale and firm-wide culture (employee survey) | ||||
| Skill development | Education and training (training hours) | ||||
| Innovation | Number of design changes, number of new patents or copyrights, skills of research and development staff | ||||
| Financial | EXAMPLES: | Example measures of success: | |||
| profitability | Earnings from operations, earnings trend | ||||
| Liquidity | Cash flow, inventory turnover, receivables turnover | ||||
| Sales | Level of sales in critical product groups, sales trend, percentage of sales from new products | ||||
| Market value | Bond and credit ratings, share price | ||||
| Internal Processes | EXAMPLES: | Example measures of success: | |||
| Quality | Product quality, number of defects, amount of scrap, rework, vendor quality defects, Product yield and reduction in waste | ||||
| Manufacturing productivity | |||||
| Productivity Flexibility | Cycle time (time from receipt of a customer’s order to delivery), setup time | ||||
| Equipment readiness | Downtime, operator experience, machine capacity, maintenance activities | ||||
| Customer Satisfaction | EXAMPLES: | Example measures of success: | |||
| Customer satisfaction Quality | Customer returns and complains, surveysCustomer service (e.g., based on number of complaints) | ||||
| Dealer and distributor | Coverage and strength of dealer and distributor relationships | ||||
| Timelines of delivery | One-time delivery | ||||
| Customer satisfaction (customer survey) | |||||
| Marketing and selling | Brand recognition (growth in market share) | ||||
| Ex: increase revenue, reduce payment cycle for patients. |
