Blog Assignment
Project Information Sheet
Project Report Writing Guidelines
This assignment should not be treated as a substitute for in-class participation; most of the course’s value (as well as students’ grades) is derived from the discussion and debate that occurs in the classroom. Nevertheless, the online component of this course is an important way to continue the conversation outside of the classroom and tie the concepts you learn to events happening all around us.
Your post should include:
- a link/reference to an external resource
- comments on how it relates to the course (more specifically, the section of the course)
- what you find interesting/insightful about the resource
Here are some sample posts from last year that represent the format and quality expected.
Sample Post 1:
Paying New Employees to Quit
The session on T-shaped skills and people included a discussion on how it is important to hire people who are good fit with the culture and vision of the company and some unique hiring practices. Zappos, an online shoe retailer is well known for their customer service. They have a very distinct culture which is fanatically focused on the customer. They understand that not every potential employee may be a very good fit in their organisation. Every new employee goes through a training period and after the first week, they are offered $1000 to quit. No questions asked. This is their way of ensuring that anybody who is not completely in sync with their culture has an incentive to quit early. The original article describing this practice is here.
It’s this kind of attention to the culture of the company that made Zappos worth $928 million.
Sample Post 2:
Fiat Lucre
That light bulb over your head might just be worth $10 million. The U.S. Department of Energy is currently offering an “L Prize” in that amount to the inventor of a better replacement for the 60-watt incandescent bulb. (The catch is that it has to reproduce the same amount and color of light made by a 60-watt incandescent bulb, but use only 10 watts of power, among other requirements). Like Google, Netflix and others, even government agencies are using this open contest format to leverage the widest possible network for innovation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/technology/25bulb.html?_r=1
Appendix. Project Information Sheet
Please fill this in for the project you will be undertaking for the course (on sheet per project). Please return this to me no later than October 23.
1. Title of project: ______________________________
2. Members of project team: ________________________________
3. Name of organization you’re investigating (incl. department)?
___________________________
4. Overall research question for your project (i.e., what is the fundamental question you’re trying to answer?):
5. What are the topics/concepts/frameworks/ideas from the course that you think you might apply?
6. How many interviews (if any) do you plan to carry out, and with what kind of interviewees (no need to list names)?
__________________________________
7. What other data sources do you plan on including for the project?
________________________
Appendix. Guidelines for writing the project report
The output of the project should be a written report, with max. 5,000 words of main text.
You can organize the report as you like. It should however contain the following elements:
1. Question. State up front the fundamental research question you’re trying to answer. E.g., “what are the barriers to collaboration between R&D and marketing at Knoll furniture and does its current KM system reduce those barriers?” The more focused, the better.
2. Problem statement. Describe the problem the organization is facing.
3. Analysis/diagnosis. Analyze the situation. Briefly mention the concepts you will be using, then apply them. Include supporting evidence. E.g., for the above example, list survey results if used, insert quotes from interviewees, refer to other data sources. Succinctly list conclusions from the analysis.
4. Recommendations. List recommendations. State how the analysis informs the recommendation. They need to be linked!
5. Appendix: Sources. List the data sources you use. Number of interviews incl. with what types, and archival sources. Include as appendix in the report. Other items in the appendix: use your discretion. Max 10 tables/charts though.
6. Executive summary up-front: a one-page maximum summary of problem investigated and conclusions.
Some tips for doing this well:
– It is a written report. You need sentences, not powerpoint slides with bullet points.
– Clarity of arguments. I don’t care about elegant prose, but your arguments need to be articulated clearly.
– Focused report. Do not boil the ocean. This is not a thesis. This is a “small” class report.
– The sharper the conclusion and recommendations, the better. It is better to say “the organization needs to change their incentive system to include at least 20% weight based on collaboration,” as opposed to saying “the organization needs to change the incentive system to promote collaboration,” or worse, “the organization needs to look at its HR system and how they incentive people….”
– Analysis. Make sure you enlist supporting evidence. For example, if you state that the organization has high hoarding barriers, you need to state the evidence (quotes from interviews, survey reports, other documents).
– Recommendations need to flow from the analysis. If you state that the organization has a hoarding barrier, then go on to suggest they should put in place video conferencing, then it is not clear how the two hang together.
A “grade A” report will have the following: a clear problem statement; a focused in-depth
analysis with supporting evidence; a set of recommendations flowing naturally from the analysis; well organized, easy to read, with clear arguments; a few well-organized charts in the main text; the appropriate number of charts etc. in the appendix—not too many, not too few.