Final Project Prompt -New Draft

7/28/2019 Final Project Prompt -New Draft

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Final Project Prompt

BTW 250 (B2)

STAKEHOLDER ECOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

As we enter the final phase of the course, our attention will now turn towards some of the more

conceptual aspects of how a firm operates amid a swarm of FORCES.1The evolving narrative that

developed during the past few weeks can be read as a coherent simulation of textual production

whereby clusters of desired consequences (and the inevitable challenges that followed) were

synthesized into descriptive and evaluative writing in the form of letters, memos, reports, and

proposals. These materials, collected in a chronological order, function for an audience as a kind

of meta-text that narrates the production of the texts themselves.

For the final project, we will continue to work within the simulated environments we have created

during the collaborative assignment. We can think of a firm mechanically in that, just like an

engine, a firm is installed within a preexisting structure/situation. Just as an engine must be

connected to other mechanical/pneumatic/hydraulic/electrical systems through a complex set of

calculation and calibration, a firm must be “installed” within an existing “ecology”2of relations. The

process, both for the engine and the entire biotic world, requires adaptation .3

Of course, since our firm is part of a simulation, we will not perform the (actual) legal, financial,

and otherwise technical operations by which a firm would become wired into a local and/or global

structure. But before any aspects of this installation process, a certain type of reading/writing is

typically undertaken by STAKEHOLDERS.

RESEARCH, the process whereby a firm examines the “ecology ” into which it will incorporateitself will now become our focus as we enter the final phase of BTW 250. Just as professionals

perform research that examines how DESIRED CONSEQUENCES must be reassessed in lieu of

a set of parameters (legal, geographical, or otherwise), your group will research how the narrative

you created in the group collaboration project exists with regards to:

ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY

GLOBALIZING MARKETS

INCREASING COMPLEXITY

MAKING A PROFIT

MANAGING RISKS

OPERATING LEGALLY

RULE OF LAW

1

All terms in bold caps refer to entries on the BTW WIKI.2

Remember, “eco logy ” and “eco nomy ” have the same Greek root – oikos : house, household.

Question: Why did I capitalize the word “ecology”?

Question: How are economies like ecologies? 3

To use another analogy, imagine your firm is an app: if someone downloaded it, and tried to “run” it, would it work?

= REREAD THE WIKI PAGE(S)!

= ENVIRONMENT



We will be using these categories (and the wiki in which they appear) as a springboard to perform

primary and secondary research .

The research you will be conducting (as part of the “installation”) will be directed towards the

narrative your group created as a product of the collaborative assignment. You will be conducting

primary and secondary research (see wiki) in order to create REPORTS that assess how each aspect of 21 st

century business corresponds to your consulting firm and the world within which it

operates .4

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Although primary research is not the “primary” means of gathering information in this project, you

will be asked to conduct primary research in the form of SURVEY. The survey will be comprised

of questions created by the group as a whole and may focus on any aspect of the ongoing

considerations of STAKEHOLDERS and ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES).

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Since each group contains multiple DEPARTMENTS, research methodologies (and the texts

utilized) will/may vary. One of the objectives for this assignment is to expand the researching

capabilities of each student with regards to his/her major and his/her ability to summarize,

interpret, and evaluate data accumulated through primary and secondary methods. Remember:

just as with any other writerly process, research demands a constant consideration of a source’s

CREDIBILITY, which, in turn affect the writer’s credibility as well (Why …?) .

As you conduct your research in order to assess how the ENVIRONMENT affects the DESIRED

CONSEQUENCES of the firm, you will consider how each piece of information you come across

functions as an AFFORDANCE towards some end (ex. ARGUING that the business would be PROFITABLE). Read the JUDGING AUDIENCE FORUMS page on the WIKI.

Remember: the UIUC Library is one of the best in the country and there are plenty of librarians

and employees who can help you find ways to find information that you never knew existed. (Ex. if

you’re w orking on the finance aspect of the project, pay a visit to the Social Sciences, Health, and

Education Library).

4 In theory, one cannot be disentangled from the other, right?



REQUIREMENTS

This project has (5) major “units” (to be completed in the following order):

I. Group Work Agreement (GWA) and Schedule of Deliverables

(see prompt for Collaborative Assignment on Moodle)

II. Initial SWOT Assessment/Reflection

Our first brainstorming assignment will involve assessing the STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,

OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS (SWOT report) that face your consulting firm at present.

This assessment will help the group develop issues/questions/challenges/conflicts that can be used

as a springboard for thinking about STAKEHOLDERS and ENVIRONMENT. Ideally, the

SWOT assessment will serve to crea te a portrait of the group’s desired consequences before

attempting to install the firm within the mainframe the primary and secondary research will soon

explore.

III. An Ecology of Stakeholders

1. Brainstorm: who are your project’s STAKEHOLDERS ?

(just to emphasize: as in, the WIKI’s definition of “STAKEHOLDER”).

2. Take a look at Bruce Erickson’s cognitive map on the bottom of the SELECT

RELATIONSHIPS page.

3. Make a cognitive map with the same AFFORDANCES as this one (i.e. it doesn’t/won’t

look exactly like this one) by defining the relationship between your STAKEHOLDERS with regards to their DESIRED CONSEQUENCES (ex. my financial backers ’ desired

consequences are positioned diametrically with regards to my competition ’s ). The map

must be designed/formatted in a logical way (think back to resumes…). It should also satisfy

the AUDIENCE FORUM requirements of #4 (size, scale, colors, contrast, visibility to a

classroom of students, etc.)

4. Make the map in whatever software you’re comfortable working with, but you’ll probably

want to import/reformat it into something like a .pdf file as we’ll need to bring it up on the

projector screen (= it will be an element of your SLIDE SHOW – more on this below).

IV. Survey

The survey will begin as a brainstorming process between departments. Ask yourself, “What

usable date might my department glean from a survey of college-aged students?” and, then, “What

kind of questions should I ask to achieve my DESIRED CONSEQUENCES?” Ev ery question

has an AFFORDANCE. Keep in mind the ARGUMENT that your research is serving. Imagine

you clients have asked you to conduct this (more) in-depth research so as to better understand how

STAKEHOLDERS are attached, in an “ecological” way, to a CAUSE-AND-EFFECT relationship



between FORCES with respect to ORGANIZATIONAL SITUATEDNESS (this is also

something to consider with regards to RESEARCH in general…).

You will turn in a draft of the original mass of questions that are generated, along with the final list

of survey questions that were/will be used. Minimum of 5 credible questions that linked to your

DESIRED CONSEQUENCES.

Conduct the survey on the quad. Make it seem as if the company actually exists. Evaluate the

results and create a brief report summarizing and evaluating them. The survey will come in handy

when you come to…

IV. Organizational Situatedness

Create a map of the ORGANIZATIONAL SITUATEDNESS of your firm (take a look at the

wiki page – it’ll make a lot more sense). Be specific.

IV. REPORTING RESEARCH

Since this assignment’s main objective is to improve students’ researching skills, primary (including

interview) and secondary research on ENVIRONMENT will be communicated in a well-

conceived and well-executed FINAL REPORT.

Advancing Technology

Globalizing Markets

Increasing Complexity

Making a Profit FINAL

Managing Risks REPORT

Operating Legally

Rule of Law

For each element of the Environment, the group must validate and use at least (3) sources (you’ll

look at more than you end up using, of course). The environmental parameters can overlap

between departments, but the above caveat must be met (= 3 total for each element). I would

recommend each group member picking three or so elements, then see what’s leftover and

apportion them/volunteer to cover them.

For each source you use, write an evaluative executive summary memo (= JUDGING

CREDIBILITY).

When writing the final report, group members must write collaboratively, using the evaluativememos as guide through the source materials

The ARGUMENT of the FINAL REPORT is a report to your STAKEHOLDERS (in theory the

firm would publish it and make available to them in an electronic format).

For the Final Report itself:

E

N V I R O N M E N T



1. Final Report should reflect the consultation of at least (3) sources for each element (21

total).

2. Final Report should be (1¼) page (single-spaced, block paragraphs, standard heading, etc.)

per ENVIRONMENTal element . I stress, of course, that this is the minimum with regards

to sourcing. This amounts to 8-10 single-spaced pages total.

3.

The evaluative summary memos will be turned in with the Final Report

A cover letter will accompany the report. It will be addressed to the CEO of the consultation

conglomerate:

Charles Mock

1000 Skyscraper Alley

Chicago, IL 60603

V. Presentation/Slide Show

The final element of the project will be a 10-15 (slide show) presentation. The desired

consequence of this element it to present the entire narrative that was created during the

collaborative/final project. As you might guess, the difficulty of this element lies in the compression

that will be necessary to present that narrative. Each group member must contribute to the

presentation itself (i.e. in its “presenting”). The presentation will be assessed on how well the

narrative itself is illustrated (desired consequences, conflicts, complications, etc.). As noted above,

video and/or audio from the interview will be an element of the presentation itself. Presentations

will take place on May 6/8. Groups will sign up for one of these dates sometime during the next

few weeks.

DELIVERABLES:(ONE) Microsoft Word file:

1. Group Work Agreement

2. SWOT Assessment/Reflection

3. Stakeholders’ Map

4. Survey Questions and Report of Results

5. Organization Situatedness Map

6. Final Report

(Individual group member evaluations will also be requested at the end of the project)

How will we be graded?

Students will receive an initial base-line grade for the materials they submit as a group.

A final grade will then be computed for each individual student based on:

- participation



- quality of individual research

- group member evaluations

Final Project Prompt -New Draft

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