Project 1-1: Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Table of contents
1. Project Description and Context:
2. Deliverables
3. Business Topics:
4. Executive Skill Topics:
5. Competencies:
代写留学生论文Before we get directly into strategy, let's spend some time exploring your ethical beliefs, frameworks, and how those translate into "Corporate Social Responsibility".
Project Description and Context:
Today’s global managers encounter a variety of ethical issues – some that parallel those of their domestic business counterparts – and others that relate more specifically to broad-based operations with a more diverse workforce. Ethical leadership and stewardship is complex in this environment as standards of behavior can reflect cultural differences. Consequently, global managers need grounding in: 1) recognizing the differences between what is a legal and an ethical issue, 2) assessing “right vs. right” ethical dilemmas, 3) identifying the rationale for ethical leadership standards, and 4) utilizing ethical decision-making models.
Although ethical leadership has garnered much of the world’s attention in the past decade, particularly with the financial scandals involving high-level corporations, the role of business in society also has been a topic of discussion. The focus has shifted from whether there is an obligation to consider societal needs to the extent to which these should be taken into consideration. As such, there is increasing pressure on global businesses to demonstrate corporate citizenship in their operations and with an array of stakeholders.
In this project you are going to examine your own organization and your own beliefs associated with ethics and corporate social responsibility. This first sequence in the program is intentionally designed in “chunks” so that you have multiple opportunities to engage with the content, discuss and analyze. Rather than trying to “eat the elephant in one bite,” the goal is to provide you with manageable pieces in this sequence so you have early and frequent feedback.
Each of the short papers you submit should demonstrate appropriate writing techniques, and should only be as long as is necessary to make the appropriate points to support your analysis. Your work will be evaluated using the Gore School of Business writing rubric, and should be submitted using the Assignment Submission Protocol.
Deliverables for Project 1-1
For each of the following short papers, read the documents provided, consider the readings in the context of the question, and then develop your response.
Paper 1:
Right Versus Right - Making Ethical Decisions:
1. Choose one of the three “Right vs. Right” Ethical Dilemmas scenarios in the linked document and take a position after reading the Badaracco article and one of the other two articles:
o Badaracco, Jr., J.L. (2001). We don't need another hero. Harvard Business Review, September.
o Tieman, R. (2008, July 7). Leadership: Strong ethics are not enough. Financial Times. London.
o Caldwell, C. Hayes, L.A., Karri, R. & P. Bernal. Ethical stewardship: Implications for leadership & trust. Journal of Business Ethics, 78.
2. In 2-3 pages, describe the reason you took the position in the Right Versus Right portion.
Paper 2:
1. Ethical Decisions: Apply the 7 steps of the “Ethical Decision Making Process” (Maddalena V. (2007). A practical approach to ethical decision-making. Leadership in Health Sciences 20(2)) to analyze a REAL ethical decision or scenario from your workplace or life.
o Maddalena proposes a 9-step ethical decision making model for health sciences. Although this model still is useful in a business application, not all of the steps are as relevant to our context. Therefore, you are to use the following 7 (of 9) steps Maddalena lists to examine ethical practices in your workplace:
State the Problem
Gather Information
Verify problem
List all options
Test each Option:
1. Is it Legal?
2. Will it withstand public scrutiny?
3. Is it consistent with personal, professional, organizational and community values?
4. Will the decision set precedent?
Implement
Evaluate
o In 3-4 pages, use the 7 steps of the "ethical decision making process" to analyze a REAL ethical decision or scenario from your workplace or life. Also, in 3-5 pages, describe what you believe to be the "model" YOU use when you are faced with ethical decisions. You can structure this "model" however you wish - you can explain the steps you use, or the criteria you follow, or whatever best describes your ethic. In total, the paper will 6-8 pages.
Paper 3:
• Corporate Social Responsibility: First, read the Schwartz and Carroll article to familiarize yourself with the Three Domains of CSR. Describe CSR initiatives in your organization and assess whether or not they align with mission, vision, values and organizational goals. If your organization does not have CSR initiatives in place, then conduct this assessment on a company in the same industry as yours. Evaluate your firms CSR in terms of their efforts in each of the three domains. Then, read the Friedman article and compare your company's CSR approach to Friedman's arguments.
o Schwartz, M., & Carroll, A. (2003). Corporate social responsibility: A three-domain approach. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(4).
o Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 13.
o The Paper: Develop 5-7 page paper that summarizes your findings.
When you have completed all three papers, submit them together to your Coach for evaluation.
Business Topics:
• Business ethics
• Ethical leadership
• Ethical decision-making
• Corporate social responsibility
Executive Skill Topics:
• Writing
• Teamwork
• APA formatting
• File Submission Protocol
Project 1-2: Creativity & Competitive Advantage: Leading the Innovative Organization
Table of contents
1. Project Description and Context:
2. Deliverables
3. Business Topics:
4. Executive Skill Topics:
5. Competencies:
Project Description and Context:
This project arrives early in your Global MBA journey because understanding how to be creative is important in completing all of your follow-on projects and important in order for organizations to stay on the leading edge of innovation. Michael Porter has stated that innovation may be the most important building block of sustainable competitive advantage. In this project sequence, you will discover multiple methods of generating creative alternatives, establishing contexts that foster creativity, and deciding which alternatives are best suited for each problem. Thus, your readings will focus on three areas: creativity methods, creativity context, and decision-making. You will also learn (through reading and practice) the importance of the first step in the strategic planning process: development of an organization’s mission, vision, values and goals.
Deliverables for Project 1-2
There is one deliverable for this project, a 3-part narrated powerpoint that will total 15-20 slides. The first part is about writing a successful mission statement:
1. Read the “Robin Hood” case and develop a “mission, vision, values, and goals (MVVG)” statement for Robin Hood and his band of Merrymen. Before Robin can develop a strong, coherent strategy, he must have a solid mission statement; one that provides guidance and motivation for his band of Merrypersons. Your charge is to act as Robin’s strategic planning team and complete the first step of the strategic planning process…the mission statement. Remember that mission statements have four components: mission, vision, values, and goals (MVVG). Use the creativity methods readings to “get creative.”
1. First, read the following two articles about creativity methods:
1. McFadzean, E. 1998. Enhancing Creative Thinking within Organizations. Management Decision, 26(5), pg. 309.
2. Furnham, A. 2000. The Brainstorming Myth. Business Strategy Review, 11(4), pg. 21.
2. Hold a brainstorming/brainwriting session with 3 colleagues or friends not in the program, and develop an MVVG for Robin. Make sure you review the MVVG wiki page to remind yourself of the relationship of each part of the MVVG.
3. Prepare the first part of the deliverable, 6-8 narrated PowerPoint slides to present your results, addressing the following three questions. Use the tools in PowerPoint to record your voice talking over the 3 slides, transitioning slides as appropriate. Don't be intimidated - - narrating a PowerPoint is simple, and you can always re-record the voice if you don't like it.
1. The final mission-vision-value-goals for Robin Hood that your group used;
2. The creativity techniques you used, and how they worked for you; and
3. How using only electronic methods worked for you and your group.
The second part of the powerpoint is a critique of your organization's MVVG, with recommendations for improvement.
1. Review your employer's MVVG - if you do not currently have an employer, pick a well-known public company. Remember, all of your work on this assignment will be held in the strictest confidence.
2. Read these two articles to help you think about MVVG in another context:
1. Krattenmaker, T. 2002. Write a Mission Statement that Your Company is Willing to Live. Harvard Management Communications Letter. March.
2. Collins, J.C. & Porras, J.I. 1006. Building Your Company's Vision, Harvard Business Review. September/October, pg. 65.
3. Review a few MVVGs for other companies - - not necessarily companies you compete or work with.
4. Consider yours relative to the others you reviewed. How do you feel the MVVG for your company compares? Be sure to review the MVVG learning topic to remind yourself what the MVVG SHOULD be.
5. Prepare the second part of the deliverable, 6-8 narrated PowerPoint slides, describing your critique of the company's MVVG. Answer these questions in your presentation:
1. Does your company have an effective MVVG, according to the articles you've read? Demonstrate you understand what makes MVVGs effective.
2. Does your company actually use the MVVG to guide its strategy decisions? How aware are employees of the MVVG? Is the MVVG a part of the company's culture? Demonstrate your ability to evaluate the MVVG in your company.
3. How would you change it if you were the top leader, if at all? Demonstrate that you can give creative suggestions for improvement.
As a basis of comparison, in the third part of the narrated powerpoint, develop 3-4 narrated slides that summarize the criteria you believe should be used to evaluate MVVGs? Be sure to use your findings in the first and second parts of the assignment to illustrate and support your points.
You are not submitting any writing in this project - - you should only be submitting the narrated PowerPoint show. In PowerPoint 2003 or 2007, save your final work as a "PowerPoint Show", a single file format that includes your voice. Make sure you review "Effective Presentations: Use of Visual Aids" to ensure your work meets the criteria for an effective presentation and use of PowerPoint.
Business Topics:
• Decision Making Methods: Creative Approaches
• Decision Making Methods
• The generic strategic planning process
• The purpose of mission statements
• Ethical behavior and personal/organizational values
• The purpose of a vision statement
• SMART goals
Executive Skill Topics:
• Group facilitation/leadership skills
• Writing skills
• APA Format
Project 1-3: Beyond the Organizations Walls: External Company Analysis
Table of contents
1. Project Description and Context:
2. Deliverables
3. Suggestions
4. Business Topics:
5. Competencies:
Project Description and Context:
In this project you will discover what forces lay outside of the walls of your organization that may affect your strategy and your competitive advantage and understand what key success factors lead to strategic success. Incompleting the external analysis, you will need to be able to use two tools effectively: Porter’s Five (6) Forces industry analysis and SLEPT (social, legal, economic, political, technological) macro-environmental analysis. Your task in this project will be to map the external environment of your (or a) firm by employing these tools. By using Porter’s Five Forces analysis, you will better understand the industry in which you operate through the viewpoint of competition (rivalry), suppliers, customers, potential competitors, complementors and makers of substitute products. By using SLEPT analysis, you will better understand those forces that affect all firms (but perhaps in different ways).
Here's the issue: Many excellent firms with excellent products were killed by changing market forces, changing competition, and new technologies. It could easily happen to you. Consider, for example, the brilliant minds at the former AT&T (not the new AT&T - the name was revived by Cingular because of its familiarity, but the company was essentially dead) and the fact that what was at the time a very innovative firm, and its subsequent near death. The road is littered with dead firms who didn't pay attention to their external market. This project will help you understand the vulnerabilities the firm has to forces OUTSIDE itself, and OUTSIDE ITS CONTROL. On the other hand, imagine being able to anticipate changes before they occur - or being able to recognize that consumer tastes and preferences were changing - and making changes to your organization BEFORE the change actually occurred! That summarizes the power of regular external Company Analysis in the strategy development process!
Deliverables for Project 1-3
For this project, you will perform an external company analysis for either your firm, or another industry of your choice. Generally, it would be best to use the industry in which you currently work, or an industry in which you have worked previously. Here are the steps you can use to complete this project:
1. First, review the materials describing external analysis and competitive analysis;
2. Begin a Porter’s Five Forces analysis for the selected industry (you can use the Microsoft Word Application of Porter template). The analysis should include:
1. For each of Porter's "Forces", describe the factors affecting the "Force" for your firm in your industry. For example, Intel may say the "Risk of Entry" for new entrants in the processor production industry is very small, because it is so difficult to enter this industry;
2. A rating of how "sensitive" YOUR firm is to this factor - for each of the five forces (high, medium, or low) with a very brief description as to why you chose this answer;
3. The effect of each force on profitability in the industry, given the Force's strength, and the conditions in your firm's industry. Describe briefly why you chose this answer;
4. The final outcome should be the “so what” factor - the high level result given your analysis of that factor, and how your results may impact your strategy.
3. The second analysis will include the effects of each of the SLEPT factors and the possible effect it will have on your organizations strategy (you can use the Microsoft Word Application of SLEPT template).
1. Review the SLEPT factors (Social/cultural, legal, economic, political, technological).
2. Brainstorm your impression for each of the five areas, as to how each of these areas may impact/be impacting your firm - for instance, are there social/cultural shifts occurring that are changing the way people feel about your product/service?
3. Now, use your brainstormed list to guide your research in support of eac h aspect you brainstormed. Prove or disprove your brainstormed list using evidence.
4. Fill out the template exactly as you did for Porter's.
4. Now, look at your results for SLEPT and Porter's. "Read between the lines" of all of the evidence/thoughts you've gathered; use your work to develop a final list of the external issues your company should be paying very close attention to.
5. Write an external market analysis paper - restricted to 10 pages maximum - that outlines all of the external issues your firm should be paying attention to - - opportunities as well as threats - - in its strategic decision making.
6. Make sure your paper follows the rules for a research paper - - all in third person, uses proper formatting and organization. Submit!
Suggestions
First, you must understand each force in the Porter’s Five Forces model and what factors affect the strength of each force. Second, you must understand what each macro-environmental force and how each affects your particular industry. Start with Porter’s Five Forces for your (an) industry and fill out a table with these headings:
Force Factors
Affecting Strength (H/M/L) Affect on profitability (+/-) So what?
Risk of Entry
Power of Buyers
Power of Suppliers
Substitute Products
Rivalry
Complementors
Then do the same for the macro-environment:
Force Factors
Affecting Strength (H/M/L) Affect on profitability (+/-) So what?
Social
Legal
Economic
Political
Technological
When you are performing either of these studies, you need to use referenced and documented data to support your hypotheses - you can't just make up data. It is most helpful to use the Westminster College library databases to perform this research - start by logging into the Westminster College library databases at https://mywc2.westminstercollege.edu/li.../#page=catalog . On the lower half of that page, you'll find databases. You'll be required to log in when you click on databases, but will then have access to Proquest, Lexis/Nexis, and Ebscohost as well as several industry analysis tools. First, read the SLEPT analysis page here in the wiki to get you started on the process.
Quite often, when you are performing this type of research, you'll need to "read between the lines" - you'll have to step out of your comfort zone to determine what the data is telling you about the industry and the forces.
When you are finished with the matrices, write an “external analysis” paper that outlines what you’ve discovered about your (an) industry with specific emphases on the strategic implications (the “so what” factors). Your submission should include your Porter's Matrix, your SLEPT matrix, as well as the external analysis paper.
Business Topics:
• External Analysis
• Porter’s Five Forces:
o Risk of Entry (including brand loyalty, input cost advantages, economies of scale (overview), capacity, access to capital, retaliation)
o Power of the Buyer (including comparative industry structures, switching costs, backward vertical integration)
o Power of the Supplier (including comparative industry structures, switching costs, asset specificity and forward vertical integration)
o Substitute products (effects of related product markets)
o Rivalry (including demand conditions, industry structure and exit barriers)
• Macro-environment (SLEPT)
o Social Movement effects by industry (pending and current)
o Legal implications by industry (pending and current)
o Economic effects by industry - pay especially close attention to those things that may be causing demand, supply, and equilibrium in the market to change (interest rates, exchange rates, growth, etc.)
o Political implications by industry (pending and current)
o Technological effects by industry (pending and current)
o Key Success Factors (KSFs) of the external environment
o Variance in profitability between companies as a result of external factors
• Competitive Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• Market/Industry Analysis
Project 1-4: Understanding Resources and Capabilities: Internal Analysis
Table of contents
1. Project Description and Context:
2. Deliverables
3. Suggestions
3.1. Business Topics:
4. Executive Skill Topics:
5. Competencies:
Project Description and Context:
A profound understanding of the internal environment of the firm is critical for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In this project you will develop the capability to use three tools in analyzing the competencies of the organization. The first, and most extensive, is the Resource-based View of the firm (RBV). This tool helps leaders understand what organizational resources and capabilities are most likely to contribute to sustainable competitive advantage. The second tool, Porter’s Value Chain, helps leaders understand the primary and secondary activities of their firm and how those activities are linked. The last tool, the Building Blocks of Competitive Advantage, focuses on four essential activities of an organization and how they are linked to business level strategy. The “Building Blocks” tool provides a nice segue to detailed discussion of business level strategies in the next project.
Deliverables for Project 1-4
The purpose of this exercise is to analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company you examined in assignment 1-2. The pre-requisite learning for this assignment is to read the Wiki entry titled internal analysis. The deliverable is a report that contains the following content sections:
1. Identify at least 15 strengths and 5 weaknesses of your selected company. Be sure to clearly describe that strength or weakness and include the reason(s) why you believe it is a strength or weakness. This section can be written as a list, but all entries must be complete sentences. There are three internal analysis methods that can be used for this requirement: function, building blocks of competitive advantage, and resource. You may use one or all three methods to help you identify company strengths and weaknesses.
2. Using the value chain method, identify at least 4 examples of strengths and 2 examples of weaknesses in the way the company coordinates the interaction between functions. For example, is the marketing department effective in giving customer feedback on products to research and development? Be sure each example of strength or weakness is clearly described.
3. Identify the company’s three greatest strengths (also called distinctive competencies) from the examples you previously identified. These strengths would be characteristics that set the company apart from the competition. Assess each strength’s importance using the VRIN criteria described in the Wiki.
4. Identify the company’s two greatest weaknesses. For each weakness, explain why it must be addressed in some way by the company.
5. Finally, perform an assessment of the company’s competency at innovation. Specific examples of product and/or service innovation as well as process innovation must be addressed. Some other measures of innovation are the rate of new product introduction, finding new customers, improving processes, etc. There should also be an explanation of the importance innovation will play in the company’s future.
It is suggested that this analysis be done in its initial form using a grid as shown in the next section, a mind map, or simple lists. The ideas from this initial effort would then be translated into a final paper for submission. The paper should have a cover page with your name, the name of the company being analyzed, and the name of the assignment. The format of the paper should have headings that correspond to the numbered requirements. Do not use the requirement numbers in your headings. You may use lists to fulfill the requirements where appropriate, but you must introduce the list with a description of its purpose and provide a conclusion after the list. All statements, including the listed items, must be in the form of complete sentences with correct grammar and punctuation. This assignment is to be completed individually.
You'll likely be tempted to begin formulating and discussing solutions and/or opportunities to the strengths and weaknesses you've identified - don't. Those solutions/opportunities are the strategies you'll developed in project 1-F.
Suggestions
You should first complete all of the assigned readings making sure that you understand the three internal analysis tools. Consulting with an instructor may be necessary. When this is complete, you should use the RBV tool to begin your analysis. Do not get too micro in your approach. It is usually best to use a matrix like the one below with the hurdles for sustainable competitive advantage on the top and the types of resources/capabilities on the side. The types of hurdles include valuable (V), rare (R), inimitable (I), and non-substitutable (N); and the types of resources include physical (P), reputational (R), organizational (O), financial (F), intellectual (I), and technological (T). Thus the matrix should look (something) like this:
Valuable Rare Inimitable Non-substitutable So what?
Physical
(list) x
Reputational
(list) x
x
x
x
Organizational
(list) x
x
x
x
Financial
(list) x
Intellectual
(list) x
x
x
x
Technological
(list) x
x
Internal evaluation should also include the construction of a value chain for your organization. There are examples of value chains in the readings. The most important aspect of constructing a value chain will be to explain how your value chain is different from others in the industry and how that difference contributes to competitive advantage. If you find that there are redundant findings compared with the RBV analysis, state that in your findings.
The “building blocks of competitive advantage analysis” ensures that your organization is focusing on the important factors for the business level strategy it is employing. First determine whether your organization pursues a low-cost or differentiation strategy. Then evaluate each block to determine if the organization focuses on the appropriate factors in the execution of its strategy. A simple table like this may be helpful:
Low-Cost Differentiation What this tells me
Efficiency
Quality
Innovation
Customer Responsiveness
Business Topics:
• Internal Analysis
• Competitive Advantage
• Strategy Formulation
• Value Chain
Executive Skill Topics:
Writing skills
Project 1-F: How Do Firms Compete? Business Level Strategy
Table of contents
1. Project Description and Context:
2. Deliverables
2.1. Business Topics:
3. Competencies:
1.
Project Description and Context:
You've analyzed Mission, vision, values and goals (MVVG), and understand what makes the MVVG offer a successful roadmap for the firm to follow. You've analyzed the external market to find out what issues the firm must consider when formulating the strategy it will use to achieve its MVVG. You've analyzed the firm's internal strengths and weaknesses. You are now ready to put all of this together to formulate strategy.
In this project you will explore the various ways in which a firm can compete in its industry. Business level strategy answers the question “how do we kick the competition's butt?” You will learn Porter’s generic business level strategies (low-cost leadership, focused low- cost leadership, differentiation, focused differentiation, and best cost provider) and the key factors that determines success in each of the strategic choices. By using your previously developed MVVG, external analysis, and internal analysis, you will select and defend the most appropriate business level strategy for your firm. In addition, you will conduct and present a two-dimensional analysis that will demonstrate the business level space in which your firm will compete.
Deliverables for Project 1-F
For this project, you will prepare an executive summary that addresses each of the following five parts.
1. Identify at least 5 opportunities and/or threats to your company by reviewing the results of your external analysis (Project 1-3) and your internal analysis (Project 1-4). Be sure to be thorough in your descriptions of these opportunities/threats. In addition, explain why each item poses an opportunity or threat to the company. In strategy textbooks, this step is generally called a SWOT analysis.
o An example of an opportunity is when a particular external factor aligns closely with an internal strength; a threat is when a particular external factors align closely with an internal weakness.
2. For each of the opportunities and/or threats identified above, identify one key competency the company would need to improve or acquire to take advantage of each opportunity or reduce each threat (this is a total of five competencies). Explain why each of the competencies identified is essential for company success and state whether the company currently possesses that competency or if the competency must be acquired. This step and part 3 below are activities related to the strategy selection step of the strategic planning process.
3. Based on your answers to parts 1 and 2, which one of the five business level strategies created by Porter is the best fit for addressing the opportunities and/or threats you have identified? State the name of the strategy and defend its selection by addressing the concept pairs of low cost vs. differentiation and broad vs. segmented markets. Remember that the defense of your strategy choice must answer the “why” question.
4. Select one of the competencies identified in requirement 3 that your company must acquire or improve. Explain 6 to 8 actions the firm must take to acquire or improve this competency. To assist you in developing the action step, you can sketch out the action steps using a how-how diagram. An example how-how diagram is provided below. This requirement is focused on the strategy step of implementation.
Business Topics:
• Strategy
• Strategy Formulation
• Economies of Scale
• Managerial/Organizational Efficiency
• Porter’s Value Chain
• Building Blocks of Competitive Advantage
• Supply-side differentiation factors
• Demand-side differentiation factors
Project 1-T （Team Project）
Table of contents
1. Introduction:
2. Goals:
3. Sequence of Assignments:
4. Business Topics
5. Executive Skill Topics:
6. Competencies:
Introduction:
In this project, you will build your skill at leading teams, managing projects, and using other executive level skills while working on a real-world project for a real-world firm in a team. You will be using the same concepts you are learning in your individual projects, but in a team setting for a real company.
Here is the scenario: your team will find a live project at one of your firms. The leader at that firm who gives you the project is the "Client" with whom your team is working. They are the assigner of the project - your team will deliver the results sought in the project. Your Faculty Coach is your boss at the consulting company - they are "supervising" your work with the Client, and demand regular reports from you on your progress (referred to as intermediate deliverables in the steps below).
For the project, you will accomplish each of the 11 goals of managing projects and teams:
1. Choose roles for each team member
2. Negotiate behavioral expectations for the team
3. Find and scope the project and deliverables and get approval of the scope and deliverables from the employer
4. Develop a budget for the project, if necessary
5. Develop a GANTT chart for the project, with clear assignments for each team member
6. Develop milestones and metrics for each phase in the GANTT that the team can use to gauge its progress and success
7. Implement the project
8. Plan and facilitate regular team meetings to discuss 4 Ps
9. Offer concise behavioral & performance feedback to other members of the team
10. Deliver the final project to the employer
11. Assess the team’s performance and develop an action plan
The designated team leader will actively communicate with his/her boss, the Project Coach. During these meetings the leader will discuss the 4 Ps of managing teams: progress, performance, problems, and plans.
Goals:
The goals of this project are:
• To demonstrate, through application, expertise in managing projects
• To demonstrate expertise in working within teams
• To demonstrate communication expertise in synchronous & asynchronous presentations
Notice that the actual content of the presentation is not listed above. You ARE expected to deliver an outstanding product to the employer – think of the implications of delivering a subpar product to your employers!
The expertise you are concentrating on, instead, is that associated with managing and leading teams and managing projects, two critical skills for successful executives. If you are successful at both of these skills, the deliverables for the project will automatically be outstanding.
There are two types of deliverables for this project – intermediate deliverables and final deliverables. Intermediate deliverables should be submitted to your Coach as soon as they are completed; final deliverables should be collected and all submitted at once.
Sequence of Assignments:
Below are explicit directions for each of the 11 steps of the Model:
1. Choose roles for each team member – in each project sequence, one member of the team should be the leader, and each other person should have very specific assignments in terms of the project. Communicate the roles for each person to your Project Coach. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 1
2. Negotiate behavioral expectations for the team – the point here is to establish team expectations on performance; many teams fail because there is no accountability to the team. Be very specific; talk about how you will communicate, the process for “accepting” the work of teammates, how you will deal with “unacceptable” work, how you will make deadlines and schedule meetings, your expectations for management and participation in those meetings, how you will deal with problems, etc. The more thorough you can be the better. Type the expectations up, have each team member review and formally commit to the team, and submit a copy to each team member and your Project Coach. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 2
3. Each member of the team should request a particular strategy-related project from their workplace; the team should then meet and discuss the various projects, and choose only ONE to be worked on for this project. Once the project is chosen, it must be scoped by the team, as a team. This means that you must specifically and precisely describe what the project is, and what the team will do to fulfill the requirements of the project, including how the final deliverables will be delivered (A presentation? A document? Both? What should be in the above?). You must be very precise in this description so that the project is manageable, is predictable, and can be completed on time - it will be very helpful to read the Consulting learning topic for this part. If you are unclear in your scoping, the employer may have very different expectations at the end of the project, and you will be unsuccessful. The team member from the chosen project’s firm should present the scope and deliverables to the executive who initially gave the idea, and get a formal signoff on the scope and deliverables of the project. A copy should be sent to the Project Coach. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 3
4. Develop a budget for the project, if necessary - If monetary resources are required for the project, these should be identified in the project scope, and approved by the executive before the project is undertaken. This will be the exception, not the rule.
5. Develop a GANTT chart for the project, with clear assignments – Use GANTT techniques to develop a list of the tasks required for completion of the project, with appropriate deadlines. Think very carefully about the deadlines to ensure that they are realistic and SMART. It should be perfectly clear who is responsible for each task and what deliverable they should prepare at the end of their task.
6. Develop milestones and metrics for each “phase” in the GANTT – the team should establish specific points throughout the project that give the team an opportunity to check progress, and determine whether or not the team is meeting the objectives of the deliverable. At each of these phases, there should be a “metric” to determine if the team is on track. This metric should be very specific and measurable so as to gauge success. These milestones and metrics should be submitted to the Project Coach along with the GANTT analysis. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 4
7. Implement the project – Start working on the tasks, working toward the final deliverables as approved by the employer. Stop regularly and meet as a team, either in person or electronically to gauge progress. When you hit milestones, evaluate performance against the established metric. Given the team’s progress and findings, adjust the GANTT and the assignments going forward. At each adjustment of the GANTT, an additional copy with adjusted assignments should be submitted to the Project Coach. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 5
8. Plan and facilitate regular team meetings to discuss 4 Ps – hold regular team meetings to discuss progress, performance, problems and plans going forward. The team leader should facilitate these meetings, appointing another team member to take notes identifying action items and discussion results. These meetings notes should be archived and submitted with your final deliverable to your Coach.
9. Offer concise behavioral & performance feedback to other members of the team – when appropriate or when required, offer feedback to each other. Team members should offer feedback to the leader, and vice versa. The more clear the communication of the team, the more likely the success of the team. The team leader should communicate with the Project Coach every two weeks on the team’s performance and progress. INTERMEDIATE DELIVERABLE 6
10. Deliver the final project deliverables to the employer – by the established deadline, present the results to the employer, in the format agreed to in the scoping process.
11. Assess the team’s performance and develop an action plan – as a team, actively discuss how you could have worked better together – identifying in which step the team had problems or successes. Be very honest and develop an action plan for how the team can work together better in the future. Document your problems and plans to be shared with your Coach
When the project is complete, submit the following documents to your Project Coach
FINAL DELIVERABLE:
• The deliverables given to the company
• The minutes from the team’s meetings
• The action plan derived in step 11 of the Project
• An executive summary of the group’s performance