B 6028
Solutions to Organizational Challenges
Spring II 2008
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Phyllis Anderson
PHONE:
630-261-1884
EMAIL:
[email protected]
FAX:
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Title
Author(s)
Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive
advantage: Concepts and cases.
Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. I., & Gamble, J. E
Copyright
Publisher
ISBN
Edition
2007
Irwin McGraw-Hill
0-07-327038-5
15
This Course Requires the Purchase of a Course Packet:
YES
NO
Argosy University
COURSE SYLLABUS
B6028
Solutions to Organizational Challenges
Faculty Information
Faculty Name: Dr. Phyllis Anderson
Campus: Chicago
Contact Information: 630-261-1884 or [email protected]
Office Hours:
Short Faculty Bio:
Dr. Phyllis Anderson, Ph.D. Management, MBA. Taught at several higher-ed institutions and various business courses.
Received a University Excellence Award. Plus has several years’ work experience in the private sector including with B. F.
Goodrich, Continental Can, and United States Steel. Dr. Anderson has authored several publications and is a members of
numerous management associations.
Course description: This is a Capstone Course that "puts it all together" through a program application project. Students must
complete a minimum of 30 semester credit hours before taking this course. The course is intended to help students frame unstructured
business problems. Students must identify the central issues and determine the most appropriate tools and concepts from the core
curriculum to apply in order to gain insight into these issues. This approach helps develop a cross-functional approach to business
issues. Students are engaged in a project with an outside organization of their own choosing and receive extensive feedback as they
carry out the project. Their project is presented to a faculty panel acting as decision makers for the organization.
Course Pre-requisites: None
Required Textbook:
Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. I., & Gamble, J. E. (2007). Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage:
Concepts and cases. (15/e). Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0-07-327038-5
Course length: 7.5 Weeks
Contact Hours: 45 Hours
Credit Value: 3.0
Program Outcomes:
1. Communication
1.1. Oral/Written – Present business information orally and in writing using appropriate technology that is concise, clear,
organized, supported, and persuasive in a professional manner appropriate to the business context
2. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
2.1. Critical Thinking – Incorporate and synthesize information, theory, and practice in order to implement appropriate business
actions
2.2. Problem Solving/Decision Making – Given a business situation, diagnose the underlying causes of the situation, evaluate
possible solutions, and determine and defend appropriate course of action
3.
4.
5.
6.
2.3. Information Literacy – Access information from a variety of sources, evaluate the credibility of the sources, and apply that
information to solve business problems
Team
3.1. Leadership – Describe the requirements of team members and leaders to work effectively and creatively in achieving team
goals
3.2. Collaboration – Collect, categorize, and consider the views of all stakeholders
Ethics
4.1. Ethics – Identify the ethical principles related to personal and corporate behavior in specific business situations and explains
the potential consequences
Diversity
5.1. Diversity – Identify the impact of both cultural and economic factors on the modern enterprise and explain the potential
consequences
Analysis/Application
6.1. Applied Technology – Select and defend business technology solutions to typical business problems
6.2. Integration – Describe the interrelationship of the functional business areas of statistics, accounting, finance, marketing,
operations, and strategy within the context of specific organizational goals
Course Objectives:
1. Communication: Oral/Written – Present business information orally and in writing using appropriate technology that is concise,
clear, organized, supported, and persuasive in a professional manner appropriate to the business context
2. Critical Thinking – Incorporate and synthesize information, theory, and practice in order to implement appropriate business actions
3. Problem Solving/Decision Making – Given a business situation, diagnose the underlying causes of the situation, evaluate possible
solutions, and determine and defend appropriate course of action
4. Information Literacy – Access information from a variety of sources, evaluate the credibility of the sources, and apply that
information to solve business problems
5. Leadership – Describe the requirements of team members and leaders to work effectively and creatively in achieving team goals
6. Collaboration – Collect, categorize, and consider the views of all stakeholders
7. Ethics – Identify the ethical principles related to personal and corporate behavior in specific business situations and explains the
potential consequences
8. Diversity – Identify the impact of both cultural and economic factors on the modern enterprise and explain the potential
consequences
9. Applied Technology – Select and defend business technology solutions to typical business problems
10. Integration – Describe the interrelationship of the functional business areas of statistics, accounting, finance, marketing,
operations, and strategy within the context of specific organizational goals
Assignment Table
1
Topics
 Introduce SFL Guidelines &
Process – Scenario and
Storyboards
STUDENT SFL
Guide.doc


BCG Matrix Model
Business Strategy
Readings
Textbook
Chapter 1: What is
Strategy and Why is it
Important?
From the Argosy
University online library
read the articles below.
These journal readings
will give you deeper
insight into the horizon,
focus, and performance of
business strategy.
Speculand, R. (2006,
Feb/Mar). Getting
employees behind
strategy. Strategic
Communication
Management. Chicago.
10(2), 5.
Allio, R. J. (2006).
Assignments
Solutions Focused Learning (SFL) - Project Scenario
Description
This project requires research, imagination, and logic in
applying the content of this course and the various text
and article readings. You will assume roles of top
management, such as CEO, CFO, CIO, and COO, and
apply knowledge gained through the weeks to an
imaginary company. Your company has been operating
in the domestic aviation arena for some time. You will
examine and evaluate the situation from a leadership
perspective and will propose the solutions necessary to
take the company global. Your aim will be to suggest
ways to gain and maintain competitive advantage, with a
focus on creating value over time. The study is based on
the following concerns:

Planned entry strategy

Situational analysis describing the operating
environment and critical operational factors to
consider
Strategic thinking: The ten
big ideas. Strategy &
Leadership. Chicago.
34(4), 4.

Analysis of ethical decision-making

Cultural profile of the local operating area

Value chain analysis

Strategic fit analysis

Functional strategy analysis

Identification of the concerns of the host country
and the local community regarding company
operations there.
This course is grounded in the learning objectives of the
curriculum. The scenario provides you with an
opportunity to view real-world issues and challenges and
will help you practice the application of knowledge
gleaned. You must identify the central issues and
determine the most appropriate tools and concepts from
the core curriculum to apply in order to gain insight into
these issues.
Student Role
As an active student, your role is paramount to a
successful learning experience. In this Capstone course,
you have the opportunity to review various types of
businesses and situations. This course will provide you a
chance to develop a cross-functional approach to
identify the central issues and apply the appropriate tools
and concepts in order to gain insight and resolve specific
business issues.
You will assume a leadership role. Assign the role of
CEO to one member of your team. Identify the roles and
responsibility of all other members. Over the course of
the next seven weeks, each team will work to examine
the issues and problems facing the industry, generate
solutions to the problems, and create the necessary
vision and instruments of change required to transform
the industry into a viable competitive force in the 21st
Century. This will be done by:

Managing stakeholder issues effectively

Building on organizational strengths

Planning for global operations

Acting as management consultants

Handling strategic issues effectively
Team Guidelines
Teamwork, collaboration, and self-directed learning help
to develop and strengthen individual and organizational
commitment and performance. These factors also help
foster accountability, responsibility, and a sense of
interdependence. They are all characteristics necessary
to support a system.
You are expected to work on two levels: as team
members solving problems within scenarios, and as
individuals completing various assignments. This is
another aspect of the course, which is applicable to the
real world. Thus, employees, managers, and leaders are
expected and required to:

Perform several tasks at the same time.

Be responsible for several jobs and/or
assignments.

Possess and utilize diverse skills appropriately
and optimally.
Team Communication
Effective communication is very important in an SFL
course. You will be working as a team to complete
assignments, and you will need to exchange views and
opinions with your teammates constantly. In the next
seven weeks, you will communicate quite frequently
with your peers through e-mail.
As in the workplace, you will be evaluated on your
individual and teamwork abilities and participation. This
aspect of coursework is challenging and requires a
systems approach to best ensure appropriate and
effective outcomes. Teamwork is a positive learning
experience. Working in teams is an excellent way to
enhance your learning experience when the following
guidelines are followed:


Contact your fellow team members immediately
to establish your basic means of communicating
and working together.
o
Exchange e-mails, phone numbers,
schedules, (time zone information for
online courses), and other details needed
to set up regular meetings.
o
Agree to “meet” frequently to touch base
and provide information and assistance
where possible.
o
Plan the methods that you will use to
collaborate, such as face to face meetings,
e-mail, conference calls, etc.
Identify the nature and amount of work that the
team will do during the course.
o
Set timelines/deadlines for completing
individual and collaborative work.
o
Make sure you factor in enough time for
revisions and integration. (Do not assume
that the individual components will fit
together seamlessly.)
o


Determine how the teamwork will be
divided and how individual assignments
will be handed out.
Decide on team roles for individual tasks or the
entire course.
o
Determine who will take on the
“coordination” role, ensuring that the
individual components are integrated
before submission.
o
Determine which parts of the tasks can be
done individually, and which parts must
be done collaboratively.
o
As much as possible, match team
members’ skills, experiences, and
interests in a logical and equitable
manner.
Finally, and most importantly, establish some
team norms of behavior and set up a method for
managing conflicts that might arise in the team.
o
Agree on a “respectful team
environment” policy, where you agree to
problem-solve conflicts by asking
questions and seeking clarifications,
rather than communicating in angry or
sarcastic ways.
Set performance expectations and define consequences
for failing to meet them. For example, deadlines are firm
yet notification of teammates prior to the deadline of a
problem will be acceptable. Failure to meet a deadline or
prior notification of failure will result in a failing
evaluation for the task or additional work being required
for future tasks.
Assignment 1: Sharing Decision-Making Experiences
Individually, write an account of yourself in about 200
words or more, exploring the dimensions of your
personal and professional qualifications and interests. It
should include your name and information about your
current professional status, extent of familiarity with
online courses, and career goals. Share the following
information about yourself with your peers in your
submission:



What are your expectations from this course?
Assess and discuss how this course will help you
to attain your professional objectives.
Recount a situation where you were involved in
organizational- or department-level decisionmaking and briefly outline the process that you
implemented.
Assignment 2: The Brain Drain
Individually, read the following:
Time was when the success in the technology market
depended on your ability to take advantage of a
multicultural expertise. That's just what Hong Lu, born
in Taiwan, raised in Japan, and educated in California
attributes his success to. His company, founded several
years ago in the Silicon Valley, sells
telecommunications equipment to Mainland China. He
aimed at the rapidly growing Chinese market and spread
the entrepreneurial culture to Asia by giving his Chinese
employees stock options—a concept unheard of in
China.
In an interview with The New York Times, Lu, a cofounder of UTStarcom, described his Chinese employees
as "very suspicious" of the stock options. "Don't give us
paper, give us money," was their refrain, Lu added.
A recent survey of U.S. immigrant entrepreneurs and
businesspeople published by the Public Policy Institute
of California (PPIC), a nonprofit private group that
studies issues affecting Californians, discovered that 18
percent of the immigrants surveyed had invested in their
native countries. In particular, U.S. immigrants from
India and China invested in their own start-ups or in
venture funds in their homelands.
AnnaLee Saxenian, a professor at the University of
California in Berkeley, who had undertaken the study
with the PPIC said the data suggests there is a "brain
circulation." She went on to explain in her interview
with The New York Times that "immigrant
entrepreneurs are being infected with the Silicon Valley
disease… then they are exporting it," indicating their
initiative to begin new businesses. It's not only
manufacturing that is being exported the survey results
indicated, but also ideas, and specifically a culture of
entrepreneurship.
The purpose of this individual exercise is to help you
learn more about business strategy and the BCG Matrix
model. When you consider the business strategy of
companies today, you may be surprised to learn that less
than 1 percent of technology start-ups succeeds in
creating global brands, according to Landor Associates,
the world's preeminent branding consultancy, and
KnnowledgeCube, the eTechnology Accelerator.
Source:
"Brain Drain in Technology Found Useful for Both
Sides." The New York Times, 19 April 2002.
Use Argosy University online library to research articles
in business practitioner journals or magazines from the
last 6 months on such issues as:



Brand equity
Brand awareness
Building brand value.
Write a research report of one to two pages in doublespace format, answering the questions below.
1. What does the Brain Drain mean?
2. What were the findings of the PPIC survey
discussed in the article?
3. Which countries benefit most from the brain
circulation, according to the survey?
4. How does the Brain Drain affect business
strategy? Where would your consideration of the
Brain Drain fall in the BCG Matrix model?
5. How different would the situation be if the startup were to be in the U.S. instead of another
country? Some companies to research might
include KaanBaan Technologies, Weeman
Technologies, and eWisdom.
Assignment 3: Time To Go International
Your facilitator will divide you into teams comprising at
least three members. As a team, your first task is to
complete the Team Project Plan. Each team member will
assume different roles as members of an aviation
company, such as CEO, Vice president, Director,
Managers, etc. Nominate one member in your team to
take on the role of team leader. In the subsequent weeks,
another team member will assume the leadership role so
that all members have an opportunity to be team leader.
This will help in effective allocation of work among
team members.
Your course project will require you to analyze the
aviation industry. You will form a fictitious aviation
company that has decided to expand and go global. In
this module, your team will decide on an appropriate
country in which to expand and give a rationale for this
choice. As a team you will address the following issues
in the project plan:



Entry strategy
Reasons for the strategy
Organizational chart showing the company's
domestic operations and prospective overseas
operations, with rationale
At the end of the course, in Week 8, you will collate all
information you have gathered into a business plan using
the Organizing Project document. Go through the
sections in this document to get an idea of how your
final project submission will take shape. This is
necessary because this will ensure that your project task
in each module is completed with this final goal in mind.
AU_B6028_Organizin
gProject
The task should be equally divided between team
members. Your team of three members will follow the
directives below. Allow your team leader to take the
final decision.
As a team, your first task is to complete the Team
Project Plan. Use the e-mail or conduct a chat session
with all the team members on the scope of your project.
Discuss the following:







Process of teamwork for the entire project
Issues that will be solved in the project
Process to ensure teamwork
Process for conflict resolution in a team
Operating procedures for the team
Process to deal with non-performance if it occurs
Group norms
The Team Project Plan is an assessment instrument,
which will be used throughout the duration of the course
to determine how well your team works together, and
how each team member performs. Remember, as in the
workplace, you will be evaluated on your individual and
team’s abilities and participation. A thorough project
plan will identify if any team member goes off the track
and jeopardizes the grade of the team on this project.
The table below defines each team member’s task.
Student
Names
Team
Task
1. Define the process of
Member A
teamwork for the entire
project.
2. Identify the issues that will be
solved in the project.
3. Decide on an appropriate
country in which to operate.
Give your rationale for this
choice.
Team
Member B
1. Identify a process to ensure
teamwork.
2. Establish operating procedures
for the team.
3. Draw an organization chart
showing the company, its
domestic operations, and its
overseas operations
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
1. Define a process for conflict
resolution in a team.
2. Establish group norms.
Indicate how the team will
deal with non-performance, if
it occurs.
3. State your planned entry
strategy and give your reasons
for this strategy. Use the BCG
Matrix model to support your
reasons.
Meet with all the team members. In this session, discuss
all the issues faced in this assignment, and help your
team leader combine individual findings. Use
established APA 5th edition guidelines for effective
writing. Submit the Team Project Plan to the instructor.
Each team member will review and sign the Virtual
Team Agreement document. Examine the Group
Assignment Responsibility and Learning Team
Charter. Based on the finding from your Team Project
Plan, complete these documents to track and record
teamwork. You will use these documents throughout the
project.
AU_B6028_Learning AU_B6028_Organizin AU_B6028_VirtualTe
TeamCharter[2]
gProject
amAgreement [1]
2
Company Situational Analysis
Mission Statement
Ethical Decision Making
Textbook
Chapter 2: The Managerial
Process of Crafting and
Executing Strategy
Chapter 10: Strategy,
Ethics, and Social
Responsibility
From the Argosy
University online library
read the article below.
Nikolay, A. D. (2004,
Dec). Corporate social
performance as a business
strategy. Journal of
Business Ethics. Dordrecht.
Assignment 1: Ethical Decision Making
Commodities trading giant Enron Corp. started as a
natural gas pipeline company in the 1980s. "[Enron] was
such a 'go, go, we're going to change the world' kind of
place," said Jay Pultz, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in
Stamford,
Connecticut. "They really believed in the power of
technology." Enron, one of the 20 largest companies in
the world, was seen as the New Economy successor to
FedEx Corp., American Airlines Inc., and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., other companies that maximized the power
of IT in the 1970s and 1980s to redefine their industries.
However, by December 2001, Enron came very close to
becoming just another of the electronic commerce
business-to-business (B2B) burnout failures of the year.
In October, the company announced that it had taken a
55(4), 395.
$1.01 billion after-tax charge against earnings. The
vague explanation was that the charge was taken "to
clear away issues that have clouded the performance and
earnings potential of our core energy businesses," said
the late Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay. A
Securities and Exchange Commission investigation
followed, and investors filed lawsuits against the
company alleging that Enron had hidden debts in
subsidiary corporations in an illegal effort to keep stock
prices high. These were the results of questionable
business ethics and unethical managerial decision
making.
The one-time legendary IT-savvy company was unable
to harness the power of technology to stave off its
rapidly accelerating financial collapse, and hold at bay
its increasing competition. Putz, who had called Enron's
technology infrastructure "first-rate,” had also raised
questions about the B2B company's ability to
successfully be a pure online trading operation. Rick
Nicholson, an analyst at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford,
Conn., said Enron first created problems for itself when
it branched out from energy trading into
telecommunications bandwidth, water, and pulp and
paper trading.
Did Enron's problems begin when it branched out from
energy trading into telecommunications bandwidth,
water, and pulp and paper trading, or as a result of
unethical decision making? Rick Nicholson, an analyst
at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut suggests it
was a combination of both–their problems escalated
early in December after Standard & Poor's downgraded
Enron's stock to junk status, putting an end to the $9billion sale of Enron to Houston-based Dynegy Inc.
Two B2B exchanges dueling for predominance in the
retail industry are calling for a truce to encourage
content providers, representing more than 12,000
manufacturers, to adopt a common set of data standards.
San Francisco-based GlobalNetXchange LLC and
Alexandria, Virginia-based WorldWide Retail Exchange
LLC have jointly announced a proposed timetable
calling on online catalog developers and other
aggregators of product information to support the Global
Commerce Initiative's (GCI) B2B standards by mid2005. Go online and investigate GCI's standards,
including the use of XML messaging and the data
schema defined by the group. What other business
standardization efforts are being proposed for different
industries?
Source:
"Enron Falls and New Doubts Surface About the Future
of B2B," ComputerWorld Magazine, December 3, 2001.
The purpose of this individual assignment is to help you
learn more about ethical decision making and company
situational analysis.
Consider the issues on ethical decision making and
company situational analysis as discussed in the article,
and write a one- or two-page analysis of the article in
double-spaced format. It should include key aspects and
brief summations of other important sections. Your
analysis should address the following issues:
What is B2B? What part did B2B commerce play in
a situational analysis of the fallen giant, Enron?
How did the collapse of trading giant Enron raise
new doubts about B2B?
Comment on your evaluation of the issue: Will
common data standards be helpful in ensuring
B2B's longevity?
Adhere to APA standards as established in the 5th
edition. Submit your analysis to the instructor.
Assignment 2: Ethics and Situational Analysis
Last week, your team decided on a country where your
aviation company will start operation. Now, you will
analyze the core issues in the aviation industry, based on
which you will create an environment wherein your
company will operate. Your process of researching the
industry will help you identify the problems. It will also
give you clues about possible solutions. You will
conduct a situation analysis of your company and define
its ethical code of conduct. This will happen at two
levels:

Internally, you will thoroughly chart your
company's position, including its customers, its
strengths, its growth capacity, and the current
market environment. This will help you define
your company’s ethical code of conduct.

Externally, you will conduct an industry analysis
through readings and research. You will need to
read about the global trends in the aviation
industry and evaluate future trends.
Your team will consider the importance of ethical
principles, personal and company values, and socially
responsible management practices. Based on this, your
team will provide an understanding of the competitive
challenges in the global market environment.
Analyze the findings to develop a mission statement and
a cultural profile of the local area in which you will be
operating.
Use e-mail or conduct a chat session with all the team
members on the scope of your project. Your team of
three members will follow the directives below. Allow
your team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Task
Team
Member A
1. Create a situational analysis of
your company describing the
environment in which you will
operate.
2. Identify the critical operational
factors that you must consider.
Team
Member B
1. Examine the effect of the critical
operational factors on your
company and incorporate ethical
decision making into your
analysis.
2. State your company's mission in
50 – 100 words. Some questions
you might address in this regard
are: What are the company's
values and philosophical
priorities? What is the public
perception of the company?
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
1. Develop a cultural profile of the
local area in which you will be
operating. Consider the
following in your report:
o
What are the employees
going to be like?
Evaluate how they will
receive your change
initiative. Formulate
solutions to alleviate the
fears and uncertainties
that will be inherent in
the minds of your
employees, suppliers,
and distributors.
o
What kind of reception
do you anticipate from
local governments,
suppliers, distributors,
and so on?
Conduct a chat session with all the team members. In
this session, discuss all the issues faced in this
assignment and help your team leader combine
individual findings. Create an eight-slide PowerPoint
presentation of your mission statement and the cultural
profile of the country in which you will operate, and
submit to your instructor.
3


Industry and Competitive
Analysis
Key Success Factors
Textbook
Chapter 3: Evaluating a
Company’s External
Use the Group Assignment Responsibility document to
track and record teamwork. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 1: Value Chain and Competitive Analysis


Value Chain
Porter’s Competitive Strategy
Model
Environment
Individually, read the following:
Chapter 4: Evaluating a
Company’s Resources and
Competitive Position
Considering the value chain and competitive analysis for
EBay
From the Argosy
University online library
read the article below.
Eonsoo, K., Dae-il, N., &
Stimpert, J.L. (2004,
Spring). Testing the
applicability of Porter's
generic strategies in the
digital age: A study of
Korean cyber malls.
Journal of Business
Strategies. Huntsville.
21(1), 19.
The world-renowned Internet auction house and the
most successful consumer auction Web site, eBay, is
optimistic that its business will not be hit by the same
mallet that has hammered so many other Internet
businesses. In an economy that has not been kind to
many Internet companies, eBay is optimistic that it can
continue to grow its Internet bazaar. This optimism is
fueled by eBay's reported revenue, which the company
touts is ahead of analysts' expectations. The first quarter
of 2002, eBay announced that it earned $47.6 million, an
increase of 125 percent from the previous year.
The increased revenues have been helped, in part, by
eBay's price increase in auction-related services. Online
auctions provide a matching service between buyers and
sellers, and charge both sides to participate. They
capitalize on the Internet's inherent strength: the ability
to pair geographically dispersed people who share
narrow interests.
eBay is not without financial concerns, however. These
concerns are:

How does eBay keep its place in a competitive
environment?

What are eBay’s key success factors?

How does it keep its value chain updated in light
of the fact that advertising revenue was down
$19 million in the first quarter of 2002.

Revenues from services like escrow and
photographs were below expectations.

eBay's Billpoint system, a new service that
allows customers who win auctions to pay sellers
via credit card, lagged in anticipated revenue and
growth.
Billpoint's lower-than-expected revenues may be a
fallout of buyer concerns regarding seller reliability.
Efforts to address buyer concerns about seller reliability
have culminated in an eBay rating system. Buyers
submit their ratings of sellers after doing business with
them. eBay then converts these ratings into user-friendly
images to help the next-time buyer.
Rajiv Dutta, eBay's chief financial officer, has
announced eBay will also drop its nonstandard pro
forma presentation used for its income statement
reporting. In these documents, charges related to
acquisitions and stock options are eliminated. Such pro
formas are frequently used by Internet companies, but
have increasingly been criticized by the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Early in 2002, Yahoo, an
established Web portal, announced it was stopping the
use of pro forma earnings.
The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn more
about the key success factors of online auctions, their
value chain, and their future on the Internet.
Sources for online auction revenue are not limited to the
buyer/seller exchange. Online auctions also make money
from advertising and other areas of commerce.
Source:
"eBay's Rapid Growth Beats Expectations," New York
Times, April 19, 2002.
Use the online library to search for new and innovative
ways in which online auctions are trying to solidify their
business future.
Consider the issues below and write an analysis of the
article in two double-spaced pages. Submit your analysis
to the instructor.

Explore the alliances that eBay is now forming.

Why are these alliances deemed strategic?

How might they protect eBay from future
revenue losses?

What new revenue sources is eBay investigating?

What types of buyers and what types of goods
are they expanding their market to include?

Do experts think these strategies will be
successful for eBay?

What do you think the future holds for online
auctions? Justify your answer.

List two other strategies eBay should pursue to
secure their financial future.

At a time when so many Internet companies have
failed, what is fueling eBay's optimism about the
future?

As you evaluate its value chain, what may be
some harbingers that the future is not quite as
rosy as eBay anticipates?

List two steps eBay is taking to thwart a future
downturn in revenues, sales, and/or negative
public perceptions as it considers the key success
factors?
Assignment 2: Industry and Competitive Analysis
In the previous modules, you identified a country of
operation for your company, decided on the entry
strategy, and organization structure. Next, you identified
ethical issues related to overseas operations. You
developed your company’s mission statement and the
cultural profile of the country where your overseas
operation will be located. You identified the human
resources challenges, issues concerning the local
government, suppliers, distributors, and so on.
In this assignment, you will evaluate your company's
value chain, decide on its overseas staffing policy, and
analyze the industry and competitive forces. This
evaluation will help you identify the key success factors
in your overseas operations. Present your findings in a
PowerPoint presentation of nine to ten slides.
Use e-mail or conduct a chat session with all the team
members on the scope of your project. Your team of
three members will follow the directives below. Allow
your team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Team
Member A
Task
1. Describe your company’s
value chain.
2. Comment on the employee
component of the value chain.
Team
Member B
1. Discuss the staffing policy for
top-level managers.
2. Analyze the industry and the
competition using Porter’s
five forces model.
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
1. Analyze the different kinds of
leadership and motivational
systems that can be
implemented for your aviation
company.
2. Discuss the key success
factors for your company.
Conduct a chat session with all the team members. In
this session, discuss all the issues faced in this
assignment, and help your team leader combine
individual findings. Submit the PowerPoint presentation
to your instructor.
4


Crafting Strategy
Operating Strategy
Textbook
Chapter 5: The Five
Generic Competitive
Strategies: Which One to
Employ?
Chapter 6: Supplementing
Use the Group Assignment Responsibility document to
track and record teamwork. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 1: Choosing an Operating Strategy
Individually read the following:
Choosing an operating strategy
Services such as monitoring and reporting for server
the Chosen Competitive
Strategy: Other Important
Strategy Choices
From the Argosy
University online library
read the article below.
Michael, K. A. (2005). A
Short, practical guide to
implementing strategy. The
Journal of Business
Strategy. Boston. 26(4),
12.
networks and applications located at customer sites are
often the chosen operating strategies to lower the costs
of running companies’ IT infrastructures, while
maintaining
ownership of their equipment. Remote server
management generally includes the use of a remote
server and its associated software to manage users
seeking access to the network remotely. The remote
server is also known as a communication server, and
usually includes, or is associated, with a firewall server
to ensure security and a router that can forward the
remote access request to another part of the corporate
network.
Tier 1 Research Inc., a Minneapolis-based market
research firm, speculates that only about three percent of
U.S. companies outsource all or parts of their IT
infrastructure. This low number indicates a "huge
opportunity" for companies to offer remote server
management services. IBM and Agiliti were among the
first providers of managed services (MSP) and facilitiesfree data center services.
Companies like AHL Services Inc., a Virginia- based
provider of marketing support services to Fortune 500
companies, uses MSPs to monitor transactions and data
that cross a wide-area network hub to 25 "touch points"
with AHL's customers. Mary Madryga, vice president of
technology, noted that the relationship with the MSP has
helped lower infrastructure costs while allowing them to
retain ownership of its equipment. Another benefit,
noted Madryga, is that the remote management services
prevent her company from "having to invest in
infrastructure across our entire client base."
Agiliti's remote server management services begin at
$50 per month per device. IBM's Services Anywhere
manages Web servers located at customers' premises
and, though prices vary, the monthly fee runs to about
$25,000.
Sharing the News!
The market for managed service providers (MSPs) and
the services they offer continues to grow. IBM is one of
the industry leaders in remote server management. Their
new product, named Services Anywhere, will remotely
deliver a variety of managed monitoring, managed
security, and storage services. Today, managed services
are most often offered to customers that keep their Web
servers hosted externally at the location of the service
provider. However, the future tends to point toward a
move to services like Services Anywhere where the
companies want remote managed services, but want to
keep their servers on their own premises. This new trend
is anticipated to be most attractive for companies with an
installed base of between 30 and 1,000 Web servers.
Analysts note that IBM would rather stick to its more
traditional hosting services, in which it manages
customers’ Web servers in its own facilities, and that
customer demand has forced IBM to launch this new
service.
Source:
"More DRAM Vendors Envolved in Justice Department
Probe," ComputerWorld, June 21, 2002.
Write an analysis on the article, in one to two pages in
double-spaced format, answering the questions below:
1. What is a remote server, what does remote server
management involve, and why do more and more
companies choose this as part of their successful
operating strategy?
2. What are MSPs and how do they benefit today's
companies?
3. Compare and contrast how the process of
crafting strategy is changing. Evaluate the
benefits and challenges to today's businesses that
choose an operating strategy, which includes
MSPs.
Consider the following pointers to help you write your
analysis on the article:

Research the MSP Association in Wakefield,
Mass, which is over 100 members strong.

Conduct a strategic analysis of remote server
management exploring the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Investigate what services are offered by MSPs
for small, medium, and large organizations,
creating a table to compare associated costs to
services for each of these types of companies.

Research the top four leaders in the managed
services market, comparing and contrasting each.

Use the Argosy University online library and
find articles on MSPs in a business practitioner
journal or magazine of the last six months.
Append these as references to your analysis.
Assignment 2: Mid-Project Assessment
In this module, you will conduct a Mid-Project
Assessment of the project that your team is creating, and
compile the findings in the downloadable Mid-Project
Assessment document.
AU_B6028_MidProjec
tAssessment[1]
Incorporate the concepts learned until now and then step
back and assess what you learned in the previous
modules. The document should reflect the scenario
completed so far, including:

Your decision on expanding your company
overseas. This should be based on the analysis of
your company using the BCG Matrix model.

Your organizational chart depicting your
domestic and overseas operations developed to
gain a broad-level understanding of these
operations

Your studies of the industry environment and
critical operational factors to support your
decision. Your company’s ethical policy and
principles for overseas operations. Include the
cultural and workforce profile you created to
state this.

Your consideration of the usual overseas
concerns, such as the local government,
suppliers, distributors, and so on.

Your identification of the key success factors for
your company. Include your analysis of the value
chain and staffing policy of senior members in
your overseas operation.

Your analysis that supports your research on the
industry and competitive forces using Porter's
five forces model.
Now, you will focus on the company's operating strategy
by examining, at a macro level, the strategies for
individual business units. You will consider legal,
financial, and marketing strategies. These will help you
to focus on your objective of having a profitable
overseas operation.
Conduct a chat session with your team members and
discuss the scope of the assessment. Also, discuss your
company’s strategy and operating strategy. Your team of
three members will follow the directives below. Allow
your team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Team
Member A
Task
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. Decide on an appropriate
country in which to operate.
Give your rationale for this
choice.
2. Draw an organization chart
showing the company, its
domestic operations, and its
overseas operations.
3. State your planned entry
strategy, and give your reasons
for this strategy. Use the BCG
Matrix model to support your
reasons.
4. Give a situational analysis of
your company describing the
environment in which you will
operate.
5. Identify the critical operational
factors that you must consider.
6. Examine the effects of the
critical operational factors on
your company and incorporate
ethical decision making into
your analysis.
Team
Member B
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. State your company's mission in
50 – 100 words. Some questions
you might address in this regard
are: What are the company's
values and philosophical
priorities? What is the public
perception of the company?
2. Develop a cultural profile of the
local area in which you will be
operating.
3. Describe your company’s value
chain.
4. Comment on the employee
component of the value chain.
5. Discuss the staffing policy for
top-level managers.
6. Analyze the industry and the
competition using Porter’s five
forces model.
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. Analyze the different kinds of
leadership and motivational
systems that can be
implemented for your aviation
company.
2. Discuss the key success factors
of your company.
Further, based on your team meeting,
prepare your report on:
1. Crafting your company's
strategy
2. Crafting your company’s
operating strategy
Finally, you will combine individual
findings and complete the Mid-Project
Assessment document.
5



Differentiation, Niche Market
Diversification
Strategic Fit
Textbook
Chapter 8: Tailoring
Strategy to Fit Specific
Industry and Company
Situations
Chapter 9: Diversification:
Strategies for Managing a
Group of Businesses
From the Argosy
University online library
read the article below.
Michael K. A. (2005) A
Conduct a team chat session and discuss all the issues
you faced in this assignment. Review the Mid-Project
Assessment document that has been compiled by your
team leader and submit to the instructor. Adhere to APA
standards as established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 1: Doing Business Differently
Individually read the following:
No matter what your strategic choice or how
diversified you are, today we do business differently
Before the 9-11 tragedy, there was little question as to
companies' preferred method of meeting: Face-to-face
meetings were the norm. Today, however, companies'
travel budgets are being slashed and global companies
are turning to conferencing technologies to help fill the
communication gap.
The fundamental shift in business travel may not be
predicated by this act of terrorism alone. Some
Short, Practical Guide to
Implementing Strategy.
The Journal of Business
Strategy. Boston. 26(4),
12.
executives say that business fares have been too high or
that the cutback in business travel can be blamed on a
response to the softening economy. Valerie Estep,
president of Topaz International Ltd., a Portland, Oregon
auditor of corporate travel spending, said, "As
companies are looking for ways to improve their bottom
line, travel is a huge red flag right in front of them."
Web conferencing is one technology used to replace
travel. Today, Web conferencing technology affords a
company the opportunity to bring in many more
members to the meeting than traditional travel can. This
type of communication is optimal when the meeting is in
the form of a PowerPoint presentation or when
interaction during broadcast time is limited and used
primarily for questions and answers. Web technology is
often used for global meetings, which need longer
periods of meeting time.
Video conferencing technology is best suited to times
when interaction among the parties is a necessity.
However, this technology is still in an embryonic state
and leaves much to be desired, particularly when used
for international meetings. It is best suited for meetings
when few members are involved and when there is an
informal meeting structure.
If a company follows a few rules of thumb, virtual
meetings can be very productive. If the meeting is high
in broadcast content, then teleconferencing or Web
conferencing technologies are appropriate. These new
conferencing technologies can be trying for the parties
involved, so make conferences shorter and involve fewer
people. Also, make a note that while conferencing
technology can often be a substitute for face-to-face
meetings, travel is still necessary from time to time.
Just recently online travel companies Travelocity and
Priceline have warned that the new terrorist plots and
attacks may have hurt the future of business travel. Rival
Expedia, however, forecasts that business will pick up
despite a drop in bookings and a rise in cancellations.
Sabre Holdings, which owns a large percentage of
Travelocity and provides technology that powers airline
reservations systems, has also reported that business will
continue to be hurt by the high and rising price of
petroleum and aviation fuel. As businesses move to
technology conferencing, the future of travel and
business meetings is uncertain.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. recently banned
first-class travel on British Airways, opting instead for
business class, saving $9 million a year. Similarly,
Hewlett-Packard Co. switched to coach-only travel.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. has seen business slow
at its high-end St. Regis hotel in New York.
Source:
"When Face-to-Face Doesn't Fly," CIO Magazine,
March 15, 2002.
The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn more
about how differentiated, niche, and focus companies are
using information technology to offset traditional faceto-face meetings, putting to use these technologies in
different ways, depending on how diversified they are
and their generic strategic choice.
Write an analysis on the article, in one-to-two doublespaced pages, answering the questions below:
1. What are the reasons given for today's
fundamental shift in business travel?
2. Which technology would you prefer to use in the
absence of a face-to-face meeting? State the pros
and cons of your preferred technology.
3. What are the three rules of thumb for successful
technology conferencing?
4. Compare and contrast the preferred method of
communication in two other large companies.
5. Evaluate companies' new travel policies as part
of their strategic choice and comprehensively
compile findings.
6. Use the Argosy University online library to find
current information to support your views.
Adhere to the APA 5th edition guidelines. Submit your
analysis report to the instructor.
Assignment 2: Differentiation, Diversification, and
Strategic Fit
Your company has set up an overseas operation. You
have established ethical standards and defined the
structure of your operation; analyzed the competitive
scenario to define the key factors and the value chain;
and crafted your company’s strategy and operating
strategy.
Now, your next step is to analyze and decide on a
diversification strategy for your company. The challenge
here is to decide whether to diversify or focus on a niche
market.
Conduct a chat session with your team members to
evaluate the scope of the assignment. Discuss how and
why your company should diversify. Examine if the
diversification complements the present operations. Also
identify the advantages of diversification. Discuss your
company’s strategic fit, core competencies, and
diversification strategy.
The task should be equally divided between team
members. Your team of three members will follow the
directives below. Allow your team leader to take the
final decision.
Student
Names
Team
Member A
Team
Member B
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
Task
Evaluate how to strategic fit using
Michael Porter's generic strategies of
differentiation, niche, and focus.
Evaluate the various diversification
options for your company.
Consider the reports presented by your
team members and evaluate your
company’s diversification strategy.
Conduct a chat session with all the team members to
discuss all the issues faced in this assignment and
compile individual slides in a PowerPoint presentation
of seven to eight slides. Your presentation should
include your findings on strategic fit, core competencies,
and diversification strategy. Submit the presentation to
the instructor.
6



Functional Strategy
Multicultural or Global
Strategies
Strategic Management
Textbook
Chapter 7: Competing in
Foreign Markets
Use the Group Assignment Responsibility document to
track and record teamwork. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 1: Ready for Globalization
Individually read the following:
Ready for Globalization
From the Argosy
University online library
At a business level, globalization can be seen when
read the article below.
Yih-Chearang S., DerJuinn H., Szu-Wei Y. (Mar
2006) Carrefour's Global
Reach: A Case Study of its
Strategy. Journal of
American Academy of
Business, Cambridge.
Hollywood. Vol. 9(1), 171
companies decide to take part in the emerging global
economy and establish themselves in foreign markets.
How is this accomplished? First, the organization adapts
its products or services to the final user's linguistic and
cultural requirements. Often the organization utilizes the
resources of the Internet to establish a virtual presence in
the international marketplace with a multilingual
corporate Web site or even as an electronic business.
However, gearing up for globalization requires a great
deal of planning for success. To connect global offices,
companies usually implement planning tools. Often,
each office is required to use one Web development tool
as well as templates that offer consistency of
development, design, and implementation. Architecture
constraints such as high-speed connectivity must also be
explored.
However, one of the first considerations in going global
is language. Companies must consider their international
visitors' language. Studies show that customers are
significantly more responsive when addressed in their
own language. A cost-effective way of testing and
getting feedback is to create a version of the Web site for
that market, in the user's language, and move traffic to
the site through remote locations.
The various challenges of going global include
affordable, centralized content management with quick
turnaround times, and streamlined workflow processes.
Does it sound impossible? The good news is that it is
being accomplished—and accomplished well—every
day.
When gearing up for globalization, businesses must
remember that the Internet is inherently global. When
the company has a Web site, it is accessible to a
worldwide audience. Bandwidth is an increasing concern
for customers and businesses throughout the world.
However, at this time, high-speed connectivity is not as
common internationally as it is in the U.S. Today, it is
not necessary that the greatest bandwidth be considered
for the entire corporate audience. In fact, a version of the
Web site that minimizes bandwidth-intensive
components may be prudent. However, the future issues
of bandwidth capacity will continue to be a looming
issue. In the year 2002, over 80 percent of European
Internet traffic traveled via the U.S. By the beginning of
2006, however, 75 percent of Internet traffic remained in
Europe.
Source:
"Gearing Up for Globalization," CIO Magazine, March
18, 2002.
Write an analysis on the article, in one to two pages in
double-spaced format, answering the questions below:
1. What is globalization?
2. What challenges can businesses face when
gearing up for globalization?
3. Comment on how globalization is changing.
4. Evaluate the benefits and challenges of
globalization to today's businesses.
5. To follow-up the questions above, use the
Argosy University online library and find a
recent article on a company that has decided to
take part in the emerging global economy.
Examine the company’s decision to go global.
Assignment 2: Creating a Global Business
In the last module, you have analyzed and decided your
company’s diversification strategy. In this module, you
will decide your globalization strategies with special
focus on how the high-level business strategies tie in
with the functional strategies.
Conduct a chat session with your team members to
evaluate the scope of the assignment. The task should be
equally divided between team members. Your team of
three members will follow the directives below. Allow
your team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Team
Task
Present the functional strategy of your
Member A
Team
Member B
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
company with reference to the following
strategies:

Marketing

New product development

Human resource

Financial

Legal
Evaluate your company’s overall
globalization strategy.
Consider the reports presented by your
team members and evaluate any special
control issues about the overseas
operation.
Conduct a chat session with all your team members and
collate your findings on:

What will be your company’s diversification
strategy?

How will you plan high-level business strategies
to tie in with your functional strategies? Compile
individual slides in a PowerPoint presentation of
seven to eight slides and submit your plan to the
instructor.
7



Strategic Evaluation
Mission, Goals and Value
Evaluation
Value Over Time
Textbook
Chapter 11: Building an
Organization Capable of
Good Strategy Execution
Chapter 12: Managing
Internal Operations:
Actions That Promote
Good Strategy Execution
Chapter 13: Corporate
Culture and Leadership:
Keys to Good Strategy
Execution
Use the Group Assignment Responsibility document to
track and record teamwork. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 1: Strategic Evaluation
Individually read the following:
In the last six modules, you have spent time exploring
different topics within the purview of business
management, comparing then to now, and applying them
to the future.
This week you will synthesize your learning and
evaluate how business was run earlier, how it is run
now, and make projections about how your business will
run in the future.
Prepare an analysis report in three to four double-spaced
pages by considering the issues below:
From the Argosy
University online library
read the article below.
Ruzita, J., Daing, N. I., &
Yuserrie, Z. (2006, Sep).
Assessing the alignment
between business strategy
and use of multiple
performance measures
using interaction approach.
The Business Review.
1. Evaluate your learning from the last six modules.
What generalizations can you make about
business organizational structure, managerial
styles, and organization culture?
2. Extrapolate from your weekly learning, and
discuss some of the challenges facing the
business of tomorrow.
3. What have you learned in your Capstone course,
where you have synthesized and applied learning
Cambridge. Hollywood.
5(1), 51.
from across your core courses, which will help
you become a strong and effective manager of
tomorrow?
Submit your analysis report to the instructor.
Assignment 2: Strategic Progress
In the previous modules, you have worked on your
company’s overseas operations. You have planned an
entry strategy and worked to ensure that you followed
business ethics. You performed industry and competitive
analysis to justify your action to operate overseas. As
you progressed, you identified success factors and your
company’s value chain. Subsequently, you focused on
your company’s operating strategy, as applied to its
business divisions like finance, marketing, and legal.
You evaluated your decisions to diversify or focus on
niche marketing in your effort to gear up for
globalization.
Conduct a chat session with all your team members and
see how you can reevaluate your company’s strategy.
Examine your budget allocation, cost and risk factors,
and manpower specifications. Also check your mission,
goals, and strategies as they evolve.
Finally, measure the value that your organization has
gained over time. You will use these inputs and your
learning experience of the last six modules to develop
your Capstone project report. Your team of three
members will follow the directives below. Allow your
team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Team
Member A
Task
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. Your decision on an appropriate
country in which you will operate
2. Your organization chart showing
the company, its domestic
operations, and its overseas
operations
3. Your entry strategy in the
overseas market
4. Your situational analysis,
describing the environment in
which you will operate overseas
5. Your understanding of critical
operational factors of your
company
6. Your understanding of ethical
decision making in your company
7. Your company's mission
statement and some questions you
addressed in this regard: What are
the company's values and
philosophical priorities? What is
the public perception of the
company?
Team
Member B
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. Your understanding of the
cultural profile of the country in
which you will operate
2. Your company’s value chain
3. Your evaluation on the employee
component of the value chain
4. Your staffing policy for top-level
managers
5. Your analysis of the industry and
the competition using Porter’s
five forces model
6. Your analysis of the different
kinds of leadership and
motivational systems that can be
implemented in the aviation
company
7. Your company’s key success
factors
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
Compile your team’s findings on the
following aspects of your project:
1. Your company's strategy and
operating strategy
2. Your decision to diversify or
focus on a niche market
3. Your company’s functional
strategy
4. Your overall globalization
strategy
5. Your strategy of budget
allocation, cost and risk factors,
alternate specifications, and
manpower specifications
6. Your reevaluation of your
company’s mission and goals
7. Your understanding of the value
that your company has gained
over time
Conduct a chat session with your team members to
discus all the issues you faced in preparing the Capstone
project. Your team will compile this information as a
20– 25-page project plan to address the work issues that
you have been working on for these seven weeks. Your
project plan revolves around an imaginary company that
your team has created in the aviation industry. You and
your team members have role-played as the top
management (CEO, CFO, CIO, and COO) of the
company. Your plan will show how your company,
which has been operating in the U.S. for a few years,
decides to go international.
Use the Organizing Project document to create the
project plan. Remember that you will create a
PowerPoint presentation next week on this project.
Please check in your project to
http://www.turnitin.com/ before you submit it.
Adhere to APA standards as established in the 5th
edition.
AU_B6028_Organizin
gProject[2]
8

Capstone Project
TBD by Instructor
Assignment 1: Project Presentation
In the last module, you developed your Capstone project
and used the Organizing project document to track your
progress. This week, you will prepare a PowerPoint
presentation of your Capstone project.
Meet with your team members and discuss the various
sections of the PowerPoint presentation. You will have
to ensure that the PowerPoint presentation effectively
sums up your Capstone project. The PowerPoint
presentation will be of eight to ten slides.
Your presentation should include:

Introduction to scenario

Diagnosis and research

Identification of the problem

Defining the solutions

Execution of the solutions

Evaluation and conclusion
The task of creating the presentation should be equally
divided between team members. Your team of three
members will follow the directives below. Allow your
team leader to take the final decision.
Student
Names
Task
Team
Member A
Complete the following sections of the
PowerPoint presentation:
1. Introduction to scenario
2. Diagnosis and research
Team
Member B
Complete the following sections of the
PowerPoint presentation:
1. Identification of the problem
2. Defining the solutions
Team
Member C
(Team
Leader)
Complete the following sections of the
PowerPoint presentation:
1. Execution of the solutions
2. Evaluation and conclusion
Conduct a chat session with your team members to
compile your PowerPoint presentation and submit to the
instructor.
Grading Criteria
Grading Scale
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CF
100 – 93
92 – 90
89 – 88
87 – 83
82 – 80
79 – 78
77 – 73
72 – 70
79 and below
Grading requirements
Attendance/participation
Weekly Assignments
Final project
Optional
Optional
25%
25%
30%
10%
10%
100%
Library:
All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students
with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources: Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books
and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers,
Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are
directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at http://library.argosy.edu. Detailed descriptions of online resources are
located at http://library.argosy.edu/misc/onlinedblist.html.
In addition to online resources, Argosy University’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials
searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively,
students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference
assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy: Argosy University’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and
transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level
research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and
practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate
feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at http://library.argosy.edu/infolit/
Academic Policies
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University
requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be
documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). Washington DC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please
refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format.
Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult
the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Scholarly writing: The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and
ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources.
You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” (www.turnitin.com), an online resource established to help
educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to
billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common
information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director
of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be
provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing
via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her
discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the
accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been
approved in this manner.
The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity
Argosy University prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the
academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential
to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.