IT 210 Final Project Guidelines and Grading Guide
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a research paper based on Internship Activities from the text.
The final paper should demonstrate an understanding of the materials in this course, as well as the implications of new knowledge gained. The 3–4-page paper should integrate new learning into the target company example and internship work. It may include explanations and examples from previous cases and activities.
The purpose of the final paper is for you to synthesize the learning achieved in this course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the area of business systems and the critical thinking process that has evolved. For this assignment you should choose any two of the concepts discussed throughout the course and integrate your research on these concepts into your case proposal for the target company.
The project 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 Modules Four and Six. The final submission will occur in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
• Understand the central role of IT in the contemporary business organization
• Understand the impact of the World Wide Web on the management of business
• Understand the various types of information systems and their implications for business management and business process engineering
• Understand the strategic role of IT in sustaining competitive advantage
• Understand the impacts of globalization on IT
• Understand security and control Issues
• Understand IT ethics and information security
Prompt
In this final case study, you will synthesize the concepts learned throughout the course based on a series of Internship Activities that are the first two milestones. Through the two assignments outlined in Milestones One and Two, you will recommend solutions to Harrison Kirby, while also incorporating additional perspectives and source material to analyze real world scenarios and provide him with options to consider as part of his strategy to increase revenue and influence customer interactions and experiences in his small business. You will leverage both the textbook and external sources to complete the final project.
From the milestone assignments, you will find that Kirby is interested in improving his business through the use of technology. As you learned in the first two cases you worked for Kirby, he is focused on revenue through e-commerce and customer experience through intelligent systems incorporated with his web presence. Take the opportunity to provide Kirby with some other technology opportunities to consider that would support his business venture in e-commerce and intelligent systems. Within your final paper, choose two of the concepts below drawn from course readings. Provide detail and an explanation for each concept, which will demonstrate how each can be leveraged to support business growth and/or create a streamlined operation for Kirby. Make sure to leverage sound examples, products, and references where appropriate to further substantiate your findings.
Course Concepts:
• Big data and knowledge management
• Wireless, mobile computing, and mobile commerce
• Social computing
• Cloud computing
• Business analytics and business intelligence solutions
Your final product should answer this question: How will technology position Harrison Kirby’s business for future growth and for the enhancement of both customer alignment and efficiency?
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
1. Case Synthesis
a) What is the purpose in Harrison Kirby asking you to collect this data and how will it impact his business? Start the assignment with 2–3 paragraphs providing a description of Kirby’s business and the industry in which he operates. In this type of contemporary business organization, what is the central role that IT is playing for Harrison Kirby?
b) Find a complementary or competing company in the same industry as Mr. Kirby’s. Take time to research the company and provide supported evidence to communicate how IT may be playing a strategic role for that company in order to maintain or gain a competitive advantage.
2. Security and Ethics
a) What are the security or control issues that should be addressed as part of the technology selection process for Kirby’s business?
b) Propose how you would address ethics or information security issues as part of the technology selection process for Kirby’s business.
3. Findings and Recommendations
a) As the technical liaison for Kirby, you are providing him with critical information that he will use in making decisions on expanding the use of technology to improve his practice. It is important that you write your response with conviction through well-developed recommendations based on sound reasoning and evidence.
b) Include an embedded Excel object in your final Word document submission that includes a matrix of technical options that Kirby should consider in his decision making process. The Excel file should include the columns below in an example based on cloud computing. Make sure that you communicate to Mr. Kirby the challenges he should expect to face when introducing new technology into his business.
Technology Concept
Product/Service Name
URL
Solution Type
Licensing/Cost
Use Case / Value Statement
Cloud Computing
Amazon AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/
Storage – Amazon EBS
30GB Free
Business continuity
Due to the sensitive nature of transaction and customer data for Kirby, he should consider a backup/storage solution where he can quickly recover from a potential catastrophe and retain customers to minimize loss and get back to business quickly.
c) Comment and provide examples of how Mr. Kirby can use this new technology to make better management decisions for his business in the future.
Articulation of Response
• Always include a title page with your name, the date, the course name/number, the title of the assignment or paper, and the revision (if applicable).
• In the body of the paper, use headings and sub-headings. Do not jump from subject to subject without providing some type of heading beforehand.
• Use correct grammar and punctuation. Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
• Make the presentation as professional as possible. Think, “If someone were to look at this paper, what would they think?” Sloppy papers may have correct answers, but they still leave an overall “messy” feeling when read.
• Make sure you understand how to cite reference material within the text of your submission (e.g., according to John, “citing in text is a key concept in this course” [Doe, 2013]).
Milestones
Milestone One: Internship Activity
In task 4-2, you will submit Milestone One. In this milestone, you will first read through the Internship Activity in Chapter 7. For this activity, you will conduct research to help Harrison Kirby, owner of a local golf course and golf shop, create an online presence. In this milestone, you will provide an overview of your research, discuss your research selections, and discuss how you think your research will help Kirby accomplish his goal. This milestone will be graded using the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Technology Guide 4: Intelligent Systems—Internship Activity
In task 6-2, you will submit Milestone Two. In this milestone, you will first read through the Internship Activity in Technology Guide 4. For this activity, you will build a technology matrix in Excel for intelligent systems by researching major golf websites that use extensive product information and reporting your findings to Harrison Kirby. Include a 1–2 page narrative describing your findings, including which sites offered the best customer experience or the worst. Use examples and references in your narrative to support your findings and provide Kirby with adequate detail to help him with his project. This milestone will be graded using the Milestone Two Rubric.
