BUSINESS FUNDAMENTAL: PROJECT

This is a group project that allows students to apply the skills and knowledge that they gained throughout the course. Students will be working in groups (5 students per group) to complete all the tasks required and specified for this project. Towards the end of the semester, students might present their project to their classmates (date TBD). Each student needs to submit a peer evaluation form that reflects the contribution of all the group members, including his / her own, to the project.

In this project, students are asked to simulate a situation in which a group of individuals are interested in starting a business, and present a subset of all the considerations / aspects that they need to address in order to achieve their goal. As such, each group should decide on a specific business and demonstrate how the topics that were discussed in class apply to that specific business, in line with what was discussed in class. For example, based on the discussions of chapter 6, the group should specify whether the business in which they are engaging is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or a cooperative. More importantly, the group should justify and support their choices and decisions.

The final outcome of this project should be a word document (approximately 15 pages long) and a PPTpresentation (approximately 20 slides). A "checklist" is presented below to help students address the various concepts that were discussed in class so far. The list is not comprehensive and should only be considered as a guide.

Areas that you can address in your report:

• Describe the business
• Describe the type of ownership and the reasons for choosing it
• List your stakeholders
• What sources of financingwill you go after and why?
• What government services you think might be helpful in starting your business?
• Describe the general business environment (e.g., Economic and competitive environment, fiscal and monetary policies, etc.)
• What are your vision and mission statements?
• What set of values would you have in place that best describe the organizational culture?
• How would you structure the organization (i.e., organization chart)?
• What are your goals and objectives that will help you realize your vision?
• What performance measures would you put in place?
• Perform a SWOT analysis(this may incorporate a number of the bullets stated above)?
• What leadership style would you use to lead and run the business?
• Do you have a code of ethics?
• Will you engage in corporate social responsibility?
• Do you need to plan your facility layout?
• Will you need to implement a quality management system?
• Construct a project plan to illustrate how your project will be implemented.
• What is your HR plan? Here you can address different aspects of HR; such as, recruitment, retention, compensation, scheduling, training and development, etc.
• What marketing strategy will you have in place to promote your business?
• Can you address the 4Ps in the marketing mix?