Summer 2012
Management 503: Team Project
DUE: August 14, 2012* (Written Project and Oral Presentation)
This is team project of 6-8 members per group. The purpose of this project is for you to apply course concepts to understand how an organization’s design influences its performance and to draft a proposed change to enhance the company’s performance. First, select a company of interest; this company should be a company that is publicly traded and experiencing performance issues. You will complete a diagnosis of your selected company using the Burton, Obel, and DeSanctis model (Organizational Design: A Step-by-Step Approach).
This project requires gathering information about the companies from public sources, such as Hoovers, Standard and Poor, and other public sources. Information should also be gathered from annual reports (if available online or from the company), periodicals (e.g., Fortune, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fast Company, etc.), and company websites. Additionally, the project requires that some members of the group have access to the company and interview at least two to three (or more) relevant individuals from the company.
Format of the written project: double spaced, 12 font, one inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right), no more than 20 pages of text (excluding figures, references, citations, and appendices), and include appropriate references and citations. Use the project outline (next pages) as the subheadings for your written project.
*The project and the presentation are due on the date of the final exam. This date is subject to change if the official time differs from what is stated above.
PROJECT OUTLINE
I. Executive Summary (one page)
II. Brief company background A. General background 1. Mission and/or vision statement (if available) 2. Brief history of company (1-2 paragraphs) a. Inception/founding b. Age (year of inception) c. Current size (# of employees) d. Include anything else that may be relevant 3. Company performance over the last three years (use at least one or more of the following: ROA, market share, revenue, sales, market cap) and comment on its improvement or decline 4. Executive leadership a. Who is the current CEO (and/or president)? How long has he/she been in this role? Include any information that identifies the CEO’s accomplishments, problems or deficiencies, or leadership style.
III. Conduct a SWOT and TOWS analysis A. Present SWOT/TOWS matrix and summarize and your SWOT B. Present at least three distinct (different combinations) of TOWS and briefly explain each.
IV. Organization Design Diagnoses A. Use Burton, Obel and DeSanctis’ model to conduct an organization design diagnosis of your company by following the diagnostic questions and 2 x 2 axis models given in each chapter. In the end you should have a model that reflects your findings (see