I. Overview: In your role as vice president of governmental affairs, your boss, the business’s CEO, is considering retaining an outside consulting firm to assist the company with a government issue that it is facing. Jack Harris is the president of that firm, which is called Crisis Consulting. Jack has told your boss that he will not know if he can help until he learns more information about your company and the issue it faces. Your CEO has asked you to prepare a memo that will provide a detailed overview of your company as well as the government action that is it facing. Address the following:A. Business Profile: Provide a brief profile of the business and the industry it occupies, including the business’s market share and competitors, as well as opportunities and threats facing the business and industry outside of the particular governmental action now facing the business.B. Governmental Action: Analyze the potential governmental action or political challenge that will affect the business in this particular situation.C. Organization and Teams: Describe the organization of the company, including divisions and project teams, and the manner in which the company has used these teams to respond to government regulations in the past.D. Stakeholders: Describe the company’s internal and external stakeholders. In your description, include the actions taken by the stakeholders to date to influence the political process and advocate for the business’s interests.E. Current Environment: Describe the current business environment, both financial and otherwise, including the initial reaction of the company to the situation and the initial position taken by political actors and other stakeholders.
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MBA 665 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of an impact of governmental action on a business paper.
Governments at all levels—federal, state, and municipal—exert a significant influence on business. The impacts of these influences may be negative, such as the
imposition of costly regulations, or they may be positive, such as the provision of financial incentives for the creation of new jobs. Both negative and positive
governmental actions present challenges for businesses: the impact of the action on the business’s “bottom line,” how public opinion will be influenced by the
business’s response to a particular action, and the ethical issues associated with each response, for example.
For this assessment, you will select a business that has faced, or is facing, governmental action and analyze the impact of this action on the business. In this
company, your role is vice president of governmental affairs. Ideally, the business that you select will be the same one discussed in the business plan you created
for MBA 560: Marketing and Strategy. If that company does not yet exist, you should choose one in the same area of focus that is facing a governmental action,
regulatory issue, or political challenge, with instructor consultation and approval. This is important because the analysis you complete now should help inform
your knowledge of potential situations or challenges facing your business product, service, or other idea from your business plan.
Note: If you have not yet completed a business plan in the MBA 560: Marketing and Strategy course, you will select a company of your choice.
The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final
submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, and Six. The final project will be submitted in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Analyze potential political challenges for determining possible impacts on business environments and sustainable operations
Evaluate the roles and functions of business project teams for addressing government incentives or potential business-negative government regulations
Recommend communication approaches designed to be presented to the public for mitigating possible situations that would negatively affect company
image
Determine effective solutions for addressing multi-faceted business challenges in macroeconomic and global environments
Recommend external resources and approaches in effectively advocating for businesses by evaluating the roles and functions of lobbyists and public
affairs specialists in the political process
Prompt
Your macroeconomic evaluation should answer the following prompt: Select a business that has faced, or is facing, governmental action, and analyze the impact
of this action on the business. Ideally, the business that you select will be the same one discussed in the business plan you created for MBA 560: Marketing and
Strategy. If that company does not yet exist, you should choose one in the same area of focus that is facing a governmental action, regulatory issue, or political
challenge, with instructor consultation and approval. This is important because the analysis you complete now should help inform your knowledge of potential
situations or challenges facing your business product, service, or other idea from your business plan. While your area of focus may be different from the possible
topics and situations listed here, these should still give you an idea of the type of situation for which to look.
Topic examples:
The decision of LG Corporation to construct a new corporate headquarters on the Hudson River in New Jersey, in the face of environmental concerns
The decision of Tesla Motors, Inc. to choose among competing incentive packages from local governments for the construction of the company’s new
Gigafactory
The threat of Amazon.com to move its drone research development activities out of the United States unless the Federal Aviation Administration adopts
a more favorable regulatory stance
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision to issue numerous citations to Ashley Furniture
McDonald’s Corporation and the decision by Seattle, Washington to increase the minimum wage in that city
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I.
Overview: In your role as vice president of governmental affairs, your boss, the business’s CEO, is considering retaining an outside consulting firm to
assist the company with a government issue that it is facing. Jack Harris is the president of that firm, which is called Crisis Consulting. Jack has told your
boss that he will not know if he can help until he learns more information about your company and the issue it faces. Your CEO has asked you to prepare
a memo that will provide a detailed overview of your company as well as the government action that is it facing. Address the following:
A. Business Profile: Provide a brief profile of the business and the industry it occupies, including the business’s market share and competitors, as
well as opportunities and threats facing the business and industry outside of the particular governmental action now facing the business.
B. Governmental Action: Analyze the potential governmental action or political challenge that will affect the business in this particular situation.
C. Organization and Teams: Describe the organization of the company, including divisions and project teams, and the manner in which the
company has used these teams to respond to government regulations in the past.
D. Stakeholders: Describe the company’s internal and external stakeholders. In your description, include the actions taken by the stakeholders to
date to influence the political process and advocate for the business’s interests.
E. Current Environment: Describe the current business environment, both financial and otherwise, including the initial reaction of the company to
the situation and the initial position taken by political actors and other stakeholders.
II. Analysis: After submitting your overview, your boss is having second thoughts about bringing Jack Harris and his firm, Crisis Consulting, on board. Before
he makes his final decision he has asked you to provide him with a thorough analysis of the situation faced by your business. He asks you to prepare a
memorandum to him (the CEO) analyzing the situation that your business faces as well as the resources that are available to it. Address the following:
A. Business Environment: Based on your analysis of the governmental action or political challenge, what will be the impact of the governmental
action or political challenge on the business’s financial situation and operations? Does the action represent an opportunity or a threat?
B. Sustainability: Based on your analysis of the governmental action or political challenge, how will the governmental action or political challenge
impact the sustainability of the business?
C. Internal Resources: Evaluate the internal resources of the company, including the business project teams that are available to respond to the
opportunity or threat. In other words, is the business adequately organized to address the opportunity or threat?
D. Communication: How has information about the situation been communicated to various stakeholders? For example, have any public hearings
been held? Have the radio, newspapers, and/or social media been used?
E. Company Image: Assess how the situation has affected the company’s public image. Has the impact been primarily positive or negative? If the
impact has been primarily negative, what are the positive aspects in addition to the negative aspects? If the impact has been primarily positive,
what are the negative aspects in addition to the positive aspects?
F. Response: What are the potential courses of action to respond to the situation in the current macroeconomic and business environment? In
other words, what is the range of options for the business in this situation?
G. Impact: How will these courses of action impact the business? Make sure to consider both short- and long-term impacts, including operational,
financial, and ethical implications.
H. External Resources: Evaluate the roles and functions of third parties or external resources in the situation. Consider questions such as these in
your response: How will lobbyists be involved in the situation? Will there be public affairs professionals who will argue on behalf of the
government or the business?
III. Recommendations: After submitting your analysis memorandum, your CEO has decided that your business needs the additional resources that Jack
Harris and his firm Crisis Consulting can provide. Time is of the essence, and so Jack has called a meeting of the team that will work on this project next
week. While Jack is familiar with your business, due to your overview, the rest of his team is not. Your CEO has asked you to provide a memorandum to
Jack that he can distribute to his team that will be assisting your business. Do not assume that the team knows anything about your business or the
government action it faces. In addition, the CEO has asked you to include your recommendations for addressing the situation the business is facing.
A. Business Project Teams: Based on your evaluation of the internal resources that are available to the company, how can business project teams
be efficiently engaged to obtain the most favorable results for the company?
B. Communication: Based on your assessment of the business’s public image, recommend communication approaches or strategies designed to
mitigate the impact of negative information about the business.
C. Solution: Based on the courses of action and their impacts that you previously described, determine an effective solution for the business in the
situation it is facing. How does the solution address the governmental action(s) or political challenge(s) faced by the business?
D. Political Influence: Based on your evaluation of external resources, how should the company utilize outside resources and approaches to
advocate for the business and influence the political process?
Milestones
Milestone One: Topic Selection
In Module Two, you will submit a topic selection short paper. Key to your success is providing the background to thoroughly address each of the critical
elements. The business topic will be the same one that you created in your MBA 560: Marketing and Strategy course. If the idea has not yet faced some
significant government impact, you will need to identify one or more government impacts that the business idea would be likely to face. See examples in the
prompt. Note: If you have not yet completed a business plan in the Marketing and Strategy course, you should choose an existing business as the subject.
Your short paper should identify and briefly describe the business that you propose to study and describe the government impact that it has faced or would be
likely to confront. Make your case for why the business and government impact you select are appropriate subjects for the final project. If your instructor believes
that your choice will not provide sufficient material for you to achieve success with the final project, you may have to select a different business and/or
government impact. The topic selection short paper should be 2–3 double-spaced pages. This milestone is graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Overview
In Module Four, you will submit the Overview section of your final project, which continues building on what you started in Milestone One to complete Section I
of the final project critical elements. You will provide the business profile and governmental action, revised according to feedback received on Milestone One,
then add organization and teams, stakeholders, and current environment. Be sure to support all factual claims/positions with appropriate citations to your
research materials. This overview should be 8-10 double-spaced pages. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Analysis
In Module Six, you will submit the Analysis section of your final project, which is Section II of the final project critical elements. Your analysis should include
answers to all the questions in the Analysis section on business environment, sustainability, internal resources, communication, company image, response,
impact, and external resources. The analysis should be 8-10 double-spaced pages. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Final Submission: Impact of Governmental Action on a Business Paper
In Module Nine, you will submit your comprehensive final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final
product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. Make sure to include the overview, analysis, and recommendations
sections in your final submission. The recommendation questions are listed in Section III of the final project critical elements and include the business project
teams, communications, solution, and political influence. Make sure to support all factual claims/positions with appropriate citations to your research materials.
Your final paper should be 15-20 double-spaced, pages. This milestone will be graded using the Final Project Rubric (below).
Deliverables
Milestone
Deliverable
Module Due
Grading
One
Topic Selection
Two
Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two
Overview
Four
Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three
Analysis
Six
Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Nine
Graded separately; Final Project Rubric (below)
Final Submission: Impact of Governmental
Action on a Business Paper
Final Project Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your macroeconomic evaluation should adhere to the following formatting requirements: 15–20 pages (not including title and
reference pages), double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. You should use current APA style guidelines for your citations and
reference list.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements
Exemplary (100%)
Overview: Business Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Profile
response expertly balances
necessary detail with brevity
Overview:
Governmental
Action
Overview:
Organization and
Teams
Overview:
Stakeholders
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
analysis demonstrates keen
insight into governmental actions,
regulatory issues, or political
challenges that can impact
businesses
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates
nuanced understanding of use of
business project teams for
addressing government incentives
and regulations
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates
nuanced understanding of role of
stakeholders in the process of
advocating for businesses and
their interests
Proficient (90%)
Briefly profiles selected business
and industry it occupies, including
market share, competitors,
opportunities, and threats
Needs Improvement (70%)
Profiles selected business and
industry it occupies, including
market share, competitors,
opportunities, and threats, but
response is wordy or vague
Analyzes potential governmental
action or political challenge that
will affect business, but with gaps
in accuracy or detail
Not Evident (0%)
Does not profile selected business
and industry it occupies
Value
4
Does not analyze potential
governmental action or political
challenge that will affect business
4.65
Describes the organization of the
company, including divisions and
project teams, and the manner in
which the company has used
teams to respond to past
government regulations, but
description is cursory or
inaccurate
Comprehensively describes
Describes company’s internal and
company’s internal and external
external stakeholders, including
stakeholders, including actions
actions taken by stakeholders to
taken by stakeholders to influence influence political process and
political process and advocate for advocate for business interests,
business interests
but description is cursory or
inaccurate
Does not describe the
organization of the company and
the manner in which the company
has used teams to respond to past
government regulations
6.2
Does not describe company’s
internal and external stakeholders
6.2
Accurately analyzes potential
governmental action or political
challenge that will affect business
Comprehensively describes the
organization of the company,
including divisions and project
teams, and the manner in which
the company has used teams to
respond to past government
regulations
Overview: Current
Environment
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates
nuanced understanding of current
business environment
Comprehensively describes
current business environment,
including financial status, initial
reaction of company to situation,
and initial position taken by
stakeholders
Describes current business
environment, including financial
status, initial reaction of company
to situation, and initial position
taken by stakeholders, but
description is cursory or
inaccurate
Analysis: Business Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Accurately determines impact of Determines impact of
Environment
response demonstrates keen
governmental action or political
governmental action or political
insight into relationship between challenge on business finances
challenge on business finances
governmental action and business and operations, based on analysis and operations, but response
environment
of action or challenge
lacks detail or accuracy or is not
based on analysis
Analysis:
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Accurately determines impact of Determines impact of
Sustainability
response demonstrates keen
governmental action or political
governmental action or political
insight into relationship between challenge on sustainability of
challenge on sustainability of
governmental action and
business
business, but response lacks detail
sustainable operations
or accuracy or is not based on
analysis
Analysis: Internal Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Comprehensively evaluates
Evaluates internal resources of
Resources
evaluation demonstrates nuanced internal resources of company,
company, including business
understanding of roles and
including business project teams project teams available to respond
functions of business project
available to respond to
to opportunity or threat, but
teams
opportunity or threat
evaluation is cursory or inaccurate
Analysis:
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Accurately assesses how
Assesses how information about
Communication
response demonstrates keen
information about situation has
situation has been communicated
insight into communication
been communicated to
to stakeholders, but with gaps in
approaches
stakeholders
accuracy or detail
Analysis: Company Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Accurately assesses how situation Assesses how situation has
Image
response demonstrates keen
has affected company’s public
affected company’s public image,
insight into relationship between image
but with gaps in accuracy or detail
situation and company image
Analysis: Response Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Determines appropriate potential Determines potential courses of
response demonstrates nuanced courses of action for responding
action for responding to situation
understanding of relationship
to situation in current
in current macroeconomic and
between situation and potential
macroeconomic and business
business environment, but not all
solut …
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