OL 215 Final Project One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a decision-making and principles of management paper.
As you continue on your path to earn a degree in business administration, you will deepen your understanding of how effective management is a crucial aspect of
overall business success, especially in today’s complex business world. As business and society continue to evolve, there will continue to be a demand for
managers who are able to organize their resources and strategically implement the functions of management to achieve the goals of an organization.
The final paper for the course is divided into two parts: Final Project One and Final Project Two. Both parts of the assessment will focus on decision making and
the fundamental principles of management.
In Final Project One, with the help of your instructor, you will select a successful company from the list provided. You will analyze the company’s best practices
and effective implementation of the fundamental principles of management. Final Project One is divided into two 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 Module Two and Module Three.
Final Project One will be submitted in Module Five.
In Final Project Two, with the help of your instructor, you will select a struggling company from the list provided in the Final Project Two Document. You will
analyze the company’s ineffective implementation of the fundamental principles of management. Once you analyze the struggling company, your task will be to
make recommendations for a management improvement plan explaining how the company’s management team can improve in areas such as decision making,
employee performance, and sustainability. Final Project Two consists of one milestone, which will be submitted to scaffold learning and ensure quality final
submissions. The milestone will be submitted in Module Six. Final Project Two will be submitted in Module Eight.
In Final Project One, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes: Analyze how an organization’s goals influence organizational planning that informs strategic decision making
Analyze the functions of management and ethical principles for executing effective decision making in organizations
Apply management techniques that ensure the continuous improvement of personnel and business processes to measure organizational performance
Apply communication techniques aimed at increasing employee performance, thus achieving organizational goals and objectives
Illustrate the important connection between management and organizational culture Prompt Your employer recently conducted an employee survey and the greatest area of concern was related to management. The survey revealed that many employees
are not satisfied with management’s performance, and the employees feel like the company’s poor performance is directly related to a lack of effective
management. The general manager has learned that you are currently pursuing a business degree and would like you to champion a team to help improve
management’s effectiveness. The general manager would first like to understand some best management practices from successful companies.
For the first part of the final project, you will identify a successful company. You must select a company from the list of suggested companies below. Resources
related specifically to the successful companies listed are provided.
SAS Google SAS.com
SAS: A New No. 1 Best Employer
How SAS Became the World’s Best Place to Work
An Interview With the Godfather of Data Analytics, SAS’s Jim Goodnight Google.com
How Google Motivates Their Employees With Rewards and Perks
Lessons From Google’s Management Style
Google’s Management Style Grows Up
Google’s Greatest Innovation May Be Its Management Practice Zappos Zappos.com No Managers Required: How Zappos Ditched the Old Corporate Structure for Something New The Zappos Way of Managing Zappos Company Culture (5:41)
Southwest Airlines SouthwestAirlines.com Southwest Airlines Opens for Business – Customers Effective Management at Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines: Strategy Genius or Common Sense? (8:32) Apple Apple.com
Apple Management Lessons Every Company Should Steal
8 Management Lessons I Learned Working at Apple
Steve Jobs Talks About Managing People (2:26) Once you have selected a successful company, you will then analyze its application of the fundamental principles of management.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction. Provide a brief overview of the successful company that you have chosen to benchmark for management best practices. Consider including
specific examples relating to the fundamental principles of management and the company’s mission and vision statement. II. Profile of a Successful Company
a. Explain how the company has communicated its mission and vision within the organization. In other words, explain how the company
demonstrates the importance of the mission and vision to employees and other stakeholders.
b. Identify the role management played in helping this company execute its strategic management plan. Justify your response. You could consider
including a specific example of a time when this management plan led the company to success.
c. Describe how management has helped to positively influence the organizational culture within this company. You could consider using some
specific examples, actions, or strategies that show how management has positively influenced organizational culture.
d. Explain management’s pivotal role in the decision-making process within this company. Be sure to include specific decisions made by
management based on principles of ethics. You could discuss specific decision-making models used by the company that may have helped the
company be successful.
e. Evaluate how the use of the functions of management within this company has adhered to the principles of ethics. You could consider how
using the functions of management while adhering to the principles of ethics may have impacted the employees of the company.
f. Explain how this company strategically uses human resources to develop its personnel. You could consider how this use of human resources has
enhanced the company’s business processes. III. Conclusion
a. Summarize how the company utilizes the fundamental principles of management to ensure optimal performance. You could consider the
actions taken by this company if optimal performance is not met.
b. Analyze the decision-making strategies of the company for how they consider all the parts of the company as an interrelated system. You could
consider how the decision-making strategies of the company align with a systems thinking approach. Milestones
Milestone One: Introduction of a Successful Company
In Module Two, you will submit a one-page (maximum) document that will identify your chosen successful company from the suggested list. You are expected to
provide a brief overview of the successful company that you have chosen to benchmark for management best practices. You should also include specific
examples related to the fundamental principles of management and the company’s mission and vision statement. This milestone will be graded with the Final
Project One Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Profile of a Successful Company
In Module Three, you will submit a one- to two-page document that will provide a profile of your chosen successful company. This milestone will serve as a rough
draft and must cover the six critical elements described in Part II of Final Project One. You are expected to provide a minimum of two to three sentences for each
of the six critical elements: mission and vision, strategic management plan, organizational culture, decision making, principle of ethics, and human resources..
This milestone will be graded with the Final Project One Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Application of the Fundamental Principles of Management for a Successful Company
In Module Five, you will submit Final Project One. 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. This assignment will be graded using the Final Project One Rubric. Final Project One Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Final Project One must be three to four pages in length (plus a cover page and references) with double spacing, 12-point Times New
Roman font, one-inch margins, and APA formatting. Include at least two references cited in APA format.
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
Introduction Successful Company:
Mission and Vision Exemplary (100%)
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
includes examples relating to the
fundamental principles of
management (P-O-L-C) and the
company’s mission and vision
statement
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
details chosen demonstrate
insight into how the company
crafts its communication for
differing audiences Proficient (85%)
Provides an overview of the
company that was chosen to
benchmark for management
best practices Needs Improvement (55%)
Provides an overview of the
company that was chosen to
benchmark for management best
practices but details lack
relevance or are cursory Not Evident (0%)
Does not provide an overview of
the company that was chosen to
benchmark for management best
practices Explains how the company has
communicated its mission and
vision within the organization Explains how the company has
communicated its mission and
vision within the organization but
details are either inaccurate or
cursory Does not explain how the
company has communicated its
mission and vision within the
organization Value
7 11 Successful Company: Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Strategic Management justification includes an example
Plan
of a time when this management
plan led the company to success
Successful Company: Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Organizational Culture includes specific examples,
actions, or strategies that show
how management has positively
influenced the culture
Successful Company: Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Decision Making
details discuss decision-making
models that have helped the
company be successful Successful Company:
Principles of Ethics Successful Company:
Human Resources Conclusion: Principles
of Management Conclusion:
Interrelated System Meets “Proficient” criteria and
details include how using the
functions of management while
adhering to principles of ethics
may have impacted the
employees of the company
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
details show insight into how the
strategic use of human resources
can lead to a company’s success Identifies how the company
has successfully executed its
strategic management plan,
justifying response Identifies how the company has
successfully executed its strategic
management plan but does not
justify response or details are
inaccurate or cursory
Describes how management
Describes how management has
has helped to positively
helped to positively influence the
influence the organizational
organizational culture within this
culture within this company
company but details are
irrelevant or cursory
Explains management’s pivotal Explains management’s pivotal
role in the decision-making
role in the decision-making
process within this company,
process within this company,
citing specific decisions made
citing decisions made by
by management based on
management based on principles
principles of ethics
of ethics but details lack
relevance or are cursory or
examples lack specificity
Evaluates how the use of the
Evaluates how the use of the
functions of management
functions of management within
within the company has
the company has adhered to
adhered to principles of ethics principles of ethics but details are
irrelevant or cursory Does not identify how the
company has successfully
executed its strategic
management plan 11 Does not describe how
management has helped to
positively influence the
organizational culture within this
company
Does not explain management’s
pivotal role in the decision-making
process within this company or
cite decisions made by
management based on principles
of ethics 11 Does not evaluate how the use of
the functions of management
within the company has adhered
to principles of ethics 11 Explains how this company
strategically uses human
resources to develop its
personnel Does not explain how this
company strategically uses human
resources to develop its personnel 11 Does not summarize how the
company utilizes the fundamental
principles of management to
ensure optimal performance 11 Does not analyze the decisionmaking strategies of the company
for how they consider all parts of
the company as an interrelated
system 11 Explains how this company
strategically uses human
resources to develop its
personnel but details are
inaccurate or cursory
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Summarizes how the company Summarizes how the company
details include insight into actions utilizes the fundamental
utilizes the fundamental
taken by the company if optimal principles of management to
principles of management to
performance is not met
ensure optimal performance
ensure optimal performance but
details are inaccurate or cursory
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Analyzes the decision-making
Analyzes the decision-making
details include how the decision- strategies of the company for
strategies of the company for
making strategies of the company how they consider all parts of
how they consider all parts of the
align with a systems thinking
the company as an interrelated company as an interrelated
approach
system
system but details are cursory 11 Articulation of
Response Submission is free of errors
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and organization spelling, syntax, or organization
and is presented in a professional
and easy-to-read format Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact readability
and articulation of main ideas Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
Earned Total 5 100%