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Deliverables
Homework | Project
Description | Project Proposal | Final
Report & Presentation
Homework
All homeworks should be done in groups, with one assignment submitted per
group. Homework assignments will be posted on this web page when
they are ready to distribute.
Homework #1: Conceptual Strategy
Homework #2: Marketing Models
Homework #3: Real Options and Game Theory
Project Description
One project description should be submitted per group, and it represents
5% of your course grade. The purpose of the project description is to encourage
you to define your project early on in the quarter. It will be graded on
a (check +/check/check -) basis. Just describe briefly (about one
page) who your project is with and the problem you are likely to be focusing
on. You do not need to go into details about the tools you will use
or the specific tactics and schedules you will follow.
Project Proposal
The project proposal represents 25% of your course grade. The evaluation
of the proposals depends upon both presentation and content. 15% of the
grade depends on the project presentation and 10% of the grade depends
on the report. The presentation is limited to 25 minutes. You should plan
on a 15 minute formal presentation and 10 minutes of answering questions;
presentations that exceed their time limits will be penalized. The report
is limited to 10 pages double spaced.
The following questions should be of assistance to you in knowing how
the project proposals will be evaluated.
1) Is the Problem Clearly Defined and Framed?
What is (are) the decision(s) to be analyzed and why is it important?
What is the strategic context (industry background and analysis)?
How does your problem fit into this strategic context and the overall strategic
concerns of the firm?
What are some of the meaningful courses of action?
What is your proposal for measuring desirability of prospects (value measures
and value model)?
What are some key uncertainties and their interdependencies affecting the
valuation of the alternative courses of action?
2) What is the Proposed Analysis?
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What analytical methods will be used, and exactly how will they help address
the problem and help you arrive at meaningful recommendations?
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What are the inputs into the analysis and where will you obtain the necessary
information?
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What are the outputs of the analysis: a marketing plan? advice on a decision?
a strategy to be pursued?
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What are some potential problems you might encounter?
3) Do you have a preliminary identification of information sources?
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Qualitative info about problem structure?
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Quantitative info required as input to analysis?
Realated to the above questions, some preliminary analysis helps.
This may include use of Porter's 5 Forces and Resource Based View of the
Firm for framing the internal and external environment; decision hierarchies,
influence diagrams, and strategy tables for framing the decision; or a
thumbnail sketch of your proposed analysis.
Final Report and Presentation
The final report represents 50 percent of your course grade. The evaluation
of the final report depends upon both presentation and content. 15% of
the grade depends on the presentation and 35% of the grade depends on the
report. The presentation is limited to 30 minutes. You should plan on a
20 minute formal presentation and 10 minutes of answering questions; presentations
that exceed their time limits will be penalized. The written report
is limited to 25 pages double spaced (this excludes any appendices
to the report).
In general, both deliverables should be intended for a business audience
(like your client), though you may assume some familiarity with MS&E
concepts. For the presentation, you can assume some familiarity with
the problem background. In deciding what level of detail to include
in the presentation, ask yourself what the audience really needs to know
in order to be convinced of your conclusions. To buy into your conclusions,
they need to have an adequate understanding of how you reached them.
In your report, you should fully document the manner in which you carried
out the analysis (though you don't need to show every calculation).
Technical aspects of the analysis are best left for appendices.
The evaluation of both the report and presentation are based on the
following criteria:
1) Did you define and narrow the scope well to specific problems or
decisions?
2) Did you overlook tools/frameworks you could have used?
3) Did you use tools that were not appropriate?
4) Did you integrate your various approaches and models to address
specific problem(s)?
5) Did you provide insight into the client’s strategic questions in
a clear, convincing manner?
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Are conclusions supported by analysis?
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Ultimately, did you make a valuable contribution to client?
6) Did you communicate clearly? Written report should include,
at a minimum, these elements:
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executive summary
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background / strategic context
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framing of problem / problem definition
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business level presentation of analysis
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recommendations and conclusions
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appendices for details of analysis, as needed (does not count towards 25
page limit)
Suggested but not required: think about limitations, future work, and lessons
learned. |