This assignment challenges students to formulate a professional response to in-depth issues contained in a real life Video Business Case.
Students are encouraged to review the Background video segments for the Video Business Case selected for analysis. Students will act as an independent professional business consultant reporting to senior managers of the company concerned. Students are expected to provide informed and robust advice to this business client. A sophisticated understanding of the critical aspects of this Video Business Case needs to be demonstrated. A succinct and high impact report is expected.
The report is expected to be <2,000 words, including an Executive Summary (<300 words) but excluding References. Introduction, table of contents and appendices are not required and will not be marked.
To support assertions made about the case being critiqued refer to the Required Readings provided in the Unit Outline Program Calendar. Students are strongly advised to refer to a minimum of five relevant and credible sources. Extension Reading information is provided in Blackboard. In particular, refer to the Hosie, Forsyth and Baird XXXXXXXXXXpaper on Researching and Writing a Video Business Case Report
Assignments should address the Video Business Case Report Assessment Ru
ic Students are strongly advised to read the relevant Assessment Ru
ic closely before undertaking this assignment.
Suggested headings for Video Business Case Report
Executive Summary (<300 words required)
A） Issues
Provide a
ief introduction that summarises the main issues of the case.
B) Causes
Identify the importance of the Causes to the organisation concerned.
C) Alternatives
Develop a set of realistic Alternatives to address the Issues and Causes identified.
D) Decision Criteria
Develop a set of Decision Criteria to choose from the Alternative courses of action.
E) Recommended Solution/s
Decide on Solution/s to the Issues derived from the Alternatives. For each competing Alternative, justify why different Solution/s were chosen or rejected. A prefe
ed Solution/s needs to be indicated.
F) Implementation and Implications
Provide realistic suggestions on how these Solution/s could be implemented in the organisation concerned within the industry context being scrutinised. Include the managerial and financial implications for adopting the prefe
ed Solution/s.
TIPS
· Do not waste the word count on an Introduction or Conclusion.
· An Executive Summary must be placed after the cover page, but before the Issue (and table of contents if you choose to have one). It should summarise the entire report, and be written last.
· The Issue(s) and the Cause(s) are given in the Video Business Interview segments. It is suggested you also research around the Issue(s) and/or Cause(s).
· The number of Issues you provide (1 or more) is the number of problems you must solve. Only having one Issue is fine.
· It is suggested 3 or 4 good, realistic Alternatives are provided. 5 is possible, but it may reduce your word count too much.
· Decision Criteria can be given in a table format.
· Ethical considerations should be built into the report; They are usually most suitable in the Decision Criteria, Solution and Implementation and Implications.
· Ethical considerations are not a question of a simple right or wrong. A thorough ethical consideration will state an issue for which there is no right or wrong answer and therefore represents a dilemma to a course of action.
· Appendices are meant to be 'extra' information that does not have to be read to understand the report; Any critical information necessary to understand the report shouldn't be in the Appendices. Appendices will not earn marks.
· Through your research you may find that the Issue has occu
ed in the past, and the company has a solution - This does not matter in the context of the VBCR, as you are writing as if the Issue is happening now.
· Remember, you are a consultant working for the company - If you suggest they hire a consultant/mediator to solve the Issue, it will look rather strange one consultant suggesting they need to hire another consultant!
· An executive summary is a précis or an outline of the entire report. It serves two basic purposes. First, it provides essential information for those who might not have the time or inclination to wade through the entire document. Thus the executive summary, like a headline in a press advertisement, plays an essential role in attracting the interest of the reader – enough, it is hoped, to encourage the reader to want to delve further into the full body of the report. Second, it emphasises, to those who have read it, the most essential points that need to be remembered or revisited for further scrutiny.
· Care must be taken to ensure the executive summary is a short, sharp snapshot of the entire report. It can only be written at the conclusion of the report-writing process, although it is presented at the beginning, not at the end, of the document. The writing of the executive summary is not an easy task, as it requires considerable discipline to condense a large body of information into what should ideally be no more than one or two pages – or around XXXXXXXXXXwords maximum.
· An important principle to bear in mind is that the executive summary must not contain any material that is not in the main body of the report. It should also follow the structure of the full report. In writing an executive summary, it is often found that some important information has been overlooked in the main report or an important point has been insufficiently emphasised or presented in some illogical manner. Where this occurs, the report should be revised.
· The decision criteria in a business setting are those variables or characteristics that are important to the organization making the decision. They should help evaluate the alternatives from which you are choosing. I use the word “variables” because you can disregard any characteristics that are constant among the alternatives. For example, if all of the cars I am evaluating get the same fuel mileage, then disregard that characteristic as it will not help you choose between the alternatives.
· The decision criteria should be measurable and should be within scope of the problem you are trying to solve. On criteria that seem immeasurable, you should at least be able to compare one to another. For example, the typical software characteristic “user friendly” is not measurable as stated. You could either list out what makes the application user friendly for your organization or you can try out the applications and have a rankings for the alternatives on relative “user friendliness” between them.
·
This assignment challenges students to formulate a professional response to in
-
depth issues
contained in a real life Video Business Case.
Students are encouraged to review the Background video segments for the Video Business Case
selected for analysis. Students will act as an independent professional business consultant
eporting to
senior managers of the company concerned. Students are expected to provide
informed and robust advice to this business client. A sophisticated understanding of the critical
aspects of this Video Business Case needs to be demonstrated. A succinct and high
impact
eport is expected.
The report is expected to be <2,000 words, including an Executive Summary (<300 words) but
excluding References. Introduction, table of contents and appendices are not required and will
not be marked.
To support assertions made about the case being critiqued refer to the Required Readings
provided in the Unit Outline Program Calendar. Students are strongly advised to refer to a
minimum o
f five relevant and credible sources. Extension Reading information is provided in
Blackboard.
In particular, refer to the Hosie, Forsyth and Baird XXXXXXXXXXpaper on Researching and
Writing a Video Business Case Report
Assignments should address the Video Business Case Report Assessment Ru
ic
Students are
strongly advised to read the relevant Assessment Ru
ic closely
efore undertaking this
assignment.
Suggested headings for Video Business Case Report
Executive Summary
(<300 words required)
A
£©
Issue
s
P
ovide a
ief introduction that summarises the main issues of the case.
B)
Causes
Identify the importance of the Causes to the organisation concerned.
C)
Alternatives
Develop a set of realistic Alternatives to a
ddress the Issues and Causes identified.
D)
Decision Criteria
Develop a set of Decision Criteria to choose from the Alternative courses of action.
E)
Recommended Solution/s
Decide on Solution/s to the Issues derived from the Alternatives. For each competin
g
Alternative, justify why different Solution/s were chosen or rejected. A prefe
ed Solution/s
needs to be indicated.
F)
Implementation and Implications
This assignment challenges students to formulate a professional response to in-depth issues
contained in a real life Video Business Case.
Students are encouraged to review the Background video segments for the Video Business Case
selected for analysis. Students will act as an independent professional business consultant
eporting to senior managers of the company concerned. Students are expected to provide
informed and robust advice to this business client. A sophisticated understanding of the critical
aspects of this Video Business Case needs to be demonstrated. A succinct and high impact
eport is expected.
The report is expected to be <2,000 words, including an Executive Summary (<300 words) but
excluding References. Introduction, table of contents and appendices are not required and will
not be marked.
To support assertions made about the case being critiqued refer to the Required Readings
provided in the Unit Outline Program Calendar. Students are strongly advised to refer to a
minimum of five relevant and credible sources. Extension Reading information is provided in
Blackboard. In particular, refer to the Hosie, Forsyth and Baird XXXXXXXXXXpaper on Researching and
Writing a Video Business Case Report
Assignments should address the Video Business Case Report Assessment Ru
ic Students are
strongly advised to read the relevant Assessment Ru
ic closely before undertaking this
assignment.
Suggested headings for Video Business Case Report
Executive Summary (<300 words required)
A）Issues
Provide a
ief introduction that summarises the main issues of the case.
B) Causes
Identify the importance of the Causes to the organisation concerned.
C) Alternatives
Develop a set of realistic Alternatives to address the Issues and Causes identified.
D) Decision Criteria
Develop a set of Decision Criteria to choose from the Alternative courses of action.
E) Recommended Solution/s
Decide on Solution/s to the Issues derived from the Alternatives. For each competing
Alternative, justify why different Solution/s were chosen or rejected. A prefe
ed Solution/s
needs to be indicated.
F) Implementation and Implications
1
ANALYSING MULTIMEDIA BUSINESS CASES
Conor Vibert PhD
January 2013
2
Introduction
About Cases
Teaching cases are used for instructional purposes at business schools around