Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to identify and apply management concepts/tools to solve real-life business problems. Students are expected to find a management problem from the real business world, think about how you can apply the management concepts/tools that you have learned in this course to solve the problem, and write up a report based on your analysis.
More specifically, each student should:
• Find a real-life management problem that a company is experiencing or has experienced (from work or from a business article/case);
• Analyze the business environment of the company;
• Identify specific management concepts/tools that can be applied to the problem;
• Apply one or two appropriate management concepts/tools to propose a solution to the problem;
• Analyze the expected results that may be obtained when the solution is implemented.
The report should be 8 - 10 pages in length including the cover and appendices, with 1" margins on all sides, double-spacing, and 12 point font. The cover of the report should include title, class code and name, section number, student name, and date of completion.
The report MUST follow the outline below:
1. Abstract (150 words maximum) - Summarize the entire report, including problem statement, management concepts/tools that have been applied to the problem, and expected results of the proposed solution.
2. Background information 1
- Clearly state whether the problem is from work or from business articles/cases. If it is from business articles/cases, provide its source (title, author, name of the journal, date published).
- Briefly introduce the company background (e.g., name, products, business size, location, internal/external interesting facts, and etc.).
- Analyze the internal and external environment of the company using SWOT analysis.
3. Problem Description
- Describe the problem you plan to solve clearly and specifically.
- You should focus on a single problem, although you can introduce several other issues for informational purposes.
- This section must include a problem statement starting with, e.g., "This paper considers the problem of determining ...", "The main problem of the firm is how to ...", and etc., either in the beginning or at the end of the section.
4. Management concepts/tools that can be applied
- Describe what specific management concepts/tools can be applied to the problem and why they are appropriate for the problem. This section should make it clear that you understand the concepts/tools you are about to use. Discuss no more than 3 concepts/tools in this section.
5. Application of management concepts/tools
- Choose one or two concept/tool(s) from those discussed in section 4 and apply the concept/tool(s) to propose a solution to the problem.
- This section should include your work/calculations in detail to show how you have applied the concept/tool(s) to develop the solution.
6. Analysis of expected results
- Analyze the expected results of the proposed solution.
- The expected results may include cost/revenue impact and/or improvement regarding organizational performance. Must be as specific as possible. - Discuss the pros and cons of the suggested solution.
7. Conclusion
8. Appendix: List all the sources, if any, cited in the report.
A management problem may involve ethical dilemmas, ineffective strategic planning, problematic decision-making process, inappropriate organizational culture and/or structure, employee resistance to change, lack of innovation, low job satisfaction, lack of motivation, ineffective communication, lack of trust between management and employees, and etc.
You are encouraged to find a problem from work if you have relevant work experience so that you may apply the concepts/tools learned from this course at work. If you want to look for a problem from business articles/cases, you can find one from journals/newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, Economist, Harvard Business Review, and so on. Or you can simply google for a real-life management problem that interests you.