Guidelines

Critical analysis is an essential component to all work term projects.

Format

WORK TERM ONE - Written Report

The assignment is to prepare an analytical report relevant to your Co-op Work experience. Projects should be between 9 to 11 pages (double spaced) excluding tables, appendices, charts, questionnaires or survey results. Submit 1 hard copy to the co-op office. Refer to the project outline for the format to be followed.

• this is NOT a research essay
• use first person narrative
• begin looking for a problem or issue you can analyze at the start of your placement
• include a paragraph outlining your job description
• outline your role and how you were involved as part of the problem or issues presented
• it is essential that you employ a cost benefit analysis of your alternative or alternatives in dollars; estimates may be necessary.

WORK TERM TWO - Printed Presentation

This report analyses another problem or issue you discovered during your placement. Follow the project outline format from the first report.

Submit 15 to 25 printed slides (in PowerPoint) along with no more than 5 pages (double spaced) of text representing the oral portion of your presentation. Refer to the presentation example for slide format/content. Submit 1 hard copy to the co-op office. Your text can be in point form along with the appropriate headings.

• Your premise should be on every slide.
• Avoid making your slides a reading exercise!
• Use bullet point only on all slides.
• Carefully select bullet points for your slides that create a flow of thought which is clear, concise, and reinforce your premise or thesis statement.

WORK TERM THREE - Oral Presentation

This is a formal presentation to the marker and possibly a small audience (employer or Co-op staff). Refer to the presentation examples for slide format/content. Bring 1 hard copy of your slides and text to the presentation, in addition to the slides submitted when the report is due.

• If your third work-term is 8 months in length, your report is to be submitted and presented at the 4-month mark of your term.


• Possible presentation dates will be emailed to you by the date the report is due. If you do not receive these dates, please contact the co-op office. Once you have selected a presentation date, be sure to attend. For any missed presentations, please note that there will be a $75 rebooking fee, for valid reasons only.


• You will be expected to use PowerPoint. A computer and projector will be available, with PowerPoint 2002 installed. As such, some of the features of Powerpoint 2003 and 2007 may not work (you can check this on the computers in the Co-op Office resource room). Bringing the PowerPoint on a USB key is preferred, CD-ROMs and USB keys are also acceptable.


• Your presentation should be between 13 to 15 minutes in length. It is essential that you rehearse the content. Employ 15 to 25 slides. There is a tendency to include too much information. Make your presentation concise and clear! Avoid reading the slides. Use carefully selected bullet points on all slides. If you use tables and charts, highlight the relevant points.


• Your slides are only an aid or support for your text. The primary focus of your presentation is about you and how you present your thesis.


• Before you begin your presentation you will be asked to identify the audience. Is your goal to inform, persuade or motivate? Carefully construct, practice and implement your choice of audience and the attitude you choose to take. Try to sell your concept! It is best to avoid passivity.


• The premise should be on every slide including your opening slide.


• Outline your job description and the role you played in the problem or issue you will present.


• It is vital that you rehearse the transition time as you progress from one slide to another. Work toward keeping your pace tight and continuous. When you have completed the last part of a sentence relating to information on a slide, the next slide should be visible.


• It is necessary to include a cost/benefit analysis in dollars for each suggested alternative or recommendation.


• Indicate the effects your recommendations would have on the fiscal position of the organization and how the company could benefit by the implementation of your recommendations.


• Avoid the use of fillers (um, ah, you know, like etc.)


• Refer to the project outline for headings and format.

Project Outline

Section 1: Executive Summary

Each of the relevant alternatives should be assessed in the following manner:

Section 5: Conclusions (Make certain you sell the thesis with your closing comments) - Your conclusion should be short, clear and strong. It should be a resolution of your premise.

Section 6: References (if necessary)

Section 7: Appendix (if necessary)

Evaluation Criteria

The following represents the criteria that will be used to evaluate work term projects.

Note: all three work terms must follow the project outline.

Rating Scale

5-Outstanding       4-Very Good        3-Good         2-Satisfactory        1-Unsatisfactory

Work Term Project Tips

Planning for your project

Early in the work term you should meet with your employer supervisor to discuss suitable topics for your project. Preliminary research with respect to potential topics should be conducted on your own time. You will need to schedule a further meeting with your supervisor promptly after completing the initial research to obtain his or her comments on the topics you are considering. Be prepared to confirm your choice of topic with both your employer/supervisor and the Co-op evaluator by the middle of your work term.

Choosing a Topic

The scope of the project is not limited to specifically your own position or job activities - it may deal with any problem, question or issue that is relevant within the professional environment in which you are working. If necessary confirm with Co-op evaluator. Keep in mind that your topic needs to be one that can be examined effectively given the length restrictions for each project. Although the topic does not have to be original, the project must be your own work.

Possible topics for a project (described very generally) include:

WRITING AND PRESENTATION TIPS

A. Choosing Your Audience

The voice or approach that you would want to use to present your report varies depending on who the intended reader is. A report prepared for a senior executive of an organization, for example, will be written differently from a report directed towards a coworker in a specialized field or activity. As you write the report, focus on one type of reader only. Please note that your audience will always include the work term grader.
In your introductory section, clearly indicate the audience that your report is targeting. If the project is based on work done at the request of a particular individual in the organization, be sure to mention this in your introduction. Also, if your report contains specialized terminology that may be unfamiliar to your audience, you should explain your work in greater detail and/or include a glossary (see section 5.7).

B. Writing Style and Standard

The work term project should be written at the same standard as is expected of a document prepared in a professional environment. Your argument and exposition should be concise, coherent and well organized. Within the context of each major point or issue there should be a clear and comprehensible progression of thought leading to the conclusions drawn. At every step of the writing and organization of the report, you should ask yourself the following questions:

Be sure to proofread and revise your first and all subsequent drafts carefully. Ask your supervisor to read your first and subsequent drafts and provide comments and suggestions. Also ask someone who is unfamiliar with the technical aspects of your work to read the draft and appraise its comprehensibility and readability. Finally, rehearse and rehearse for the Work Term 3 presentation! Be sure to review criteria for evaluation.

Content & Analysis

SITUATION ANALYSIS AND PROBLEM DEFINITION

Analyze, Analyze, Reason, Analyze some more…
Merit awarded to the work term project is based on depth and reasoning behind critical analysis of change management issues such as

1. Process/practice improvements
   

   • Organizational change
   • Technological developments
   • Current events affecting the organization?

Situation analysis is crucial in identifying the root cause of problems. The root cause is the factor that links all the issues together; and if solved would yield the greatest results in bridging the gap between the desired and existing situation.

Identifying key stakeholders, their interest in the issue and how they impact the current and desired outcome would set up the background research needed for conducting a situation analysis.

POSSIBLE APPROACHES TO THE REPORT:

Begin by Understanding Your Co-op Employers' Mission

When you undertake business strategy, your objective is to answer some fundamental questions about the organization:

• Where is it now?
• Where does it want to be in 5 years time?
• How does it get there from here?

Strategic Management begins with the corporate mission.

MISSION

A business is formed by people who share a common purpose. They are motivated by the opportunity to acquire wealth, to provide a service, to formalize a hobby or leisure pursuit, or to further a cause. In a very large, bureaucratic, multinational, multi-product, multi-divisional organization, it may be difficult to remember what that cause is.

"If you don't know where you are going to, you'll never get there."

This has led to the concept of the "Mission" and increasingly to the enunciated "Mission Statement".

Mission Statements are designed to provide guidance and declare attitudes rather than express concrete ends. They should be limited enough to exclude some ventures and broad enough to allow for creative growth.

The Mission Statement should:
1. Define what the organization is and what it aspires to be;
2. Distinguish an organization from all others;
3. Serve as a framework for evaluating both current and prospective activities.

Examples of Mission or Vision Statements

Royal Bank of Canada

Our vision is to be Canada's premier financial services provider, with committed people working as a team to create customer service and shareholder value.

SNL mission

Scottish Nuclear's mission is to become a world class, competitive nuclear generating company with an outstanding safety record and enjoying widespread public acceptability.

K-Mart - Mission

To provide superior value and quality with low prices to both the company's customers and shareholders as the world's largest discount retailer and major operator of super drugstores, warehouse home improvement centres and bookstores.

Mission in Theory and Practice

Does this company appear to have a mission?
Does this company have a publicly enunciated statement of its mission?
Does the enunciated mission clearly state what the organization is or aspires to be?
If the company does not have an enunciated mission, can you infer one from the company's public statements (e.g., through its Chairman or CEO) or from its stated goals and objectives?
Where does your department, and how does your job, support your employers "Mission"? In other words, how are you contributing toward moving the organization toward its enunciated objectives?

Use whatever source of company information that you can; perhaps starting with the Annual Report (obtained by calling the company), the company website, and press releases furnished by the company through its corporate affairs or media relations departments. Be objectively critical of these materials since they will only show the company, its board and its policies in the most positive light.

What do independent, third parties and industry analysts think? Consider utilizing brokers' reports, articles in the Report on Business Magazine, Financial Post, Dun & Bradstreet credit reports.

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Moving from your examination of the employer's mission, you will be better able to analyze the problem you have identified. The following is provided to guide you in the appropriate type of analysis to select and apply.

PEST Analysis

The PEST analysis considers the broad external environment facing the business organization. It is an outward looking analysis.

What broad determinants are going to affect the macro-environment in which the firm will be competing, over the next five (or more) years? The PEST analysis attempts to answer the above question while taking Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors and trends into consideration.

Like any model, the PEST model is a simplification; the choice of Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors may seem arbitrary. However, these categories are as adequate as any in attempting to put a form to the myriad of trends, developments, events and causation that will assist or hinder the firm as it attempts to breach the gap between where it is now, and where it ultimately wants to be.

List of Some of the Factors and Trends that might crop up in a PEST Analysis

Though the list is far from exhaustive, you may find it helpful to you as you prepare your report.

Political Factors and Trends	Example
Federal and provincial governments and their policies	Banks circumscribed in ability to merge
Local pressure groups	Shell & Green Peace
Changing legislation	Deregulation of utility industries
Local and national regulations	Quebec language laws, Ontario anti-scab

Economic Factors and Trends	Example
Business cycles	4 years in pulp and paper industry
Inflation rates and price trends	Affects asset based companies like real estate development
Consumption trends and GNP growth	Affect retail companies like the Bay
Employment levels	Affect companies depending on seasonal workers
Interest rates	Affects interest sensitive companies like financial services, real estate

Social Factors and Trends	Example
Demographic trends	Aging population versus young population
Social and cultural values of customers	Environmentalist versus consumerist
Availability of labour and attitude to work
Local geography and climate	Temperate versus cold
Management and workforce values	Entrepreneurial versus dependent

Technological Factors and Trends	Example
Rate of technological change	Fast or slow
Raw material availability	Plentiful and cheap versus specialized and scarce
Product obsolescence	Rapid or not relevant
Product life cycles	Short versus long, extendible versus finite

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SWOT ANALYSIS - An Element of Strategic Thinking

S trengths
Weaknesses
O pportunities
T hreats

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Business Strategy:

The process of examining the firm’s environment, formulating the firm’s objectives, and making decisions focused on achieving those objectives.

Strategy in Practical Terms:

Strategy attempts to answer three questions:

• Where do we want to be?
• Where are we now?
• How do we get there from here?

Arguably the most important question is: "How do we get there from here?"

To answer this question we must understand:

• The wider world: P.E.S.T.
• Our industry: 5 Forces
• Ourselves: S.W.O.T.

1) Understanding the Wider World (P.E.S.T):

Which macro factors will affect the firm’s ability to realize its goals:

• P olitical events
• E conomic conditions
• S ocial trends and attitudes
• T echnological developments

2) Understanding the Industry (5 forces):

Which factors within the industry will affect the firm’s ability to realize its goals:

• Our Suppliers
• Our Customers
• Potential New Entrants
• Substitute Products/Services
• Our Competitor peers

3) Understanding Ourselves (SWOT):

• What do we do well?    S
• What do we do badly?  W
• Where should we go?   O
• What should we avoid? T