Term Project Description

Fall 2016

1.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of this course, you will be required to complete a team-based research project about a modern cost management technique (MCMT).The instructor will defined the size and composition ofeach team, as well as the MCMT each team will research. This information will beavailable on the course's web site as a separate document.
The term project is worth 25% of your final grade. As stated in the course's syllabus, a student must attend85% of the lecture sessions to be eligible to receive points for the term project.

2.0 PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The course content will survey some of the current topics in modern cost management and will provide a specific level of depth and breadth. Therefore, the primary objective ofthe term project is to ensure that students acquire additional knowledge in one more area of cost management.

Teams are encouraged to focus on the strategic value of the MCMT they have been assigned to research, i.e., how the MCMT may enable an organization to become more competitive. Although not anexhaustive list, the following points could be used as a guide to complete the research project:

• How does the MCMT support strategic cost management?

• Is the MCMT more appropriate for organizations that compete on cost leadership ordifferentiation? A mix of both strategies?

• Does the MCMT focus on a particular type of cost(s)? If so, what type of cost(s) and why?

• What types(and amount) of cost data are required by the MCMT? Financial, non-financial, or both?

• Does the MCMT require a significant realignment of an organization's cost culture?

• Is the MCMT expensive (i.e., human and financial resources) to implement?

3.0 DELIVERABLES

The main deliverable of the term project is an educational module prepared as a Microsoft®PowerPoint presentationcomprised of exactly 25 slides. The educational module must be designed and structured as if the team were to present the material to an audience with no background on the specific MCMT. Also, the educational module must include one numerical exampleto illustrate how the researched MCMT processes cost information. Table 1 details the grading criteria that will be used to assess the quality of this deliverable.

The first slide of the educational modulemust clearly display the team number, team member names, and the specific MCMT researched. Teams must print the hard copy of the educational module using a portrait orientation with exactly two slides per page.

Table 1. Grading Criteria for Educational Module

CRITERION POINTS DESCRIPTION

Organization 15 The educational module is well structured and contains identifiable sections (e.g., outline, introduction, conclusions, references, etc.) The material presented follows a logical flow and "feels" integrated (i.e., poorly assembled individual contributions versus a cohesive team effort). The electronic version of the educational module must not include any animation effects.

Originality 20 The material included in the educational module is clearly a contribution of the students (i.e., not just a series of quotations with or without attribution). The educational module includes a clear and complete application example of the MCMT (i.e., how the MCMT processes cost data to support strategic cost management).

Depth 20 The material included in the educational module is not superficial, and it focuses on the main aspects of the MCMT.

Accuracy 10 Slide #25 of the educational modulemust include a list of references.Sources for figures and data tables included in the educational module must be properly cited with a footnote on the slide in which they appear.

Professionalism 20 The slide style used to prepare the educational moduleis visually appealing and consistent, and the contents are free of typos and/or grammatical errors.

3.1 Peer Evaluation

Each individual team member must completely fill out a peer evaluation form electronicallyand submit it as a hard copy at the beginning of the lecture session on Monday, 28st, 2016. Peer evaluation forms are available via the course's web site under the Term Project heading.