TopTutorial (30%)
Attendance & Participation (10%)
Executive Case Summaries (20%)
Guidelines for Writing Executive Case Summaries
For the cases assigned for the tutorial sessions, you are expected to prepare a one-page (1.5-spaced) analysis and summary. Submissions longer than this may be returned unread and ungraded by the instructor. You should assume that you’re writing a report to the senior executives in your organization. Hence, you need to consider the busy schedules of these executives, and structure your report in a clear and concise manner.
· Summaries must be submitted through IVLE by 11:30 PM on Saturdays.
· Summaries should include a one-sentence thesis which clearly identifies the main idea of the case, supported by a short paragraph in which you expand on your thesis and explain the key concepts of the case. This paragraph should reflect your analysis and conclusions concerning the case, and should NOT be a recapitulation of the case. You should assume that everyone in class has read the case and should not waste time telling us what we already know. However, it is acceptable to mention important contextual elements if they are central to the main idea of your summary. Your central thesis should strongly influence the rest of the report.
· Summaries should address all questions assigned to the case. Inserting a bold-face one-line summary of each question before addressing the question is strongly encouraged.
· If the final assigned question does not ask for recommendations, the case write-up should conclude with your recommendations or managerial implications. These should include short, medium, and long-range recommendations, and you should be prepared to pick and defend a particular strategy – you are encouraged to list possible choices, but you should also clearly indicate which choices you think should be made and why.
· Summaries should NOT focus on the details of the case, which are relatively unimportant compared to the concepts they illustrate. The applicability of what you learn from the case to your future career is very closely tied to whether what you learn is on the conceptual level or merely the details of what happened in this particular case.
· NOTE that each case summary should thus contain a thesis sentence with a supporting paragraph, a discussion of any assigned questions, and a conclusion in which you present the available options as well as your reasons for your own short, medium, and long-range recommendations from among these options. This is particularly challenging to do in a single page if you do not allow your thesis to strongly influence the rest of the write-up.
· Outside research is encouraged. Doing research on the company, the industry, and the product or technology in question is fine. You are particularly encouraged to do research on the key concepts of the case. Citing your sources is REQUIRED. Failing to give credit for quotes or for paraphrased ideas constitutes plagiarism.
Midterm Exam (10%)
Group Advanced Topic (GAT) Report (15%)
The objective of the group advanced topic (GAT) report is for you to explore a specific IS management issue in depth. You will work in a team of five on this report. Collaborating with your team, you will actively seek and filter relevant information, critically evaluate information, organize and summarize information in a professional manner, and propose recommendation based on the research.
Each team is expected to submit a 20-page written report on one of the topics that will be given at the 3rd week of class (27 August, 2007), and to give a professional presentation at the end of the semester. Your team will be asked to submit an outline of the report after the midterm break (29 September, 2007 by 11:30 PM). The final paper is due on 27 October, 2007 by 11:30 PM.
The report should address issues (appropriate to the topic) such as
(a) the nature and the significance of the problem,
(b) critical issues or challenges related to the problem,
(c) potential solutions to the problem,
(d) managerial implications, and
(e) any others your team deem appropriate.
The research paper will be graded based on:
(1) depth of coverage,
(2) completeness (breadth) of coverage,
(3) accuracy,
(3) quality of presentation, and
(4) relevance and applicability to course.
Accumulative Final Exam (45%)
Grading Scale:
The letter grading system (ABCDF +/-) will be used in this course. The following interpretation of grading scale will be used:
A (Excellent Work) -
* Assigned work is clearly presented, thoughtful, insightful, and creative.
* You have demonstrated that the course material has been thoroughly learned.
* You have demonstrated that creative application of the course material to novel situations.
B (Good Work) –
* Assigned work is clearly presented and thoughtful.
* You have demonstrated that the course material has been learned.
C (Acceptable Work) –
* Assigned work is completed and the course standards are met.
* You have clearly demonstrated that much of the course material has been learned.
D (Marginally Acceptable Work) -
* Most of the assigned work is completed in a way that meets the course standards or all of the assigned work is completed in a way that almost meets the course standards.
* You have clearly demonstrated that some of the course material has been learned.
F (Unacceptable Work)
* You have not clearly demonstrated that the course material has been learned.