Critique Assignment Details (15% of the course grade)

Purpose: Through this assignment, you will be able to...

  • Demonstrate critical thinking skills as applied to business situations (in this case, as applied to potential options in a decision-based case).
  • Evaluate potential change options of a decision-based case and identify strengths and weaknesses of each option.
  • Demonstrate understanding of business memo format (including audience and purpose) 
Task: Tom Corcoran has asked you, as a Project C program analyst, to evaluate each of the five modifications (GE Case, p.211-213) based on the following criteria so that he can better make his decision (which modification options should be incorporated to Project C):
  1. Competitiveness: Does the change contribute substantially to competitive success (e.g. improved product quality and profitability, process quality, productivity, quality of work life, increased market share)?
  2. Total cost: Does the total cost of the recommended changes be justified? (As indicated in the case, the total cost should be as close to $2.8 million as possible)
  3. Justified cost: If there are additional costs for this option (that go over $2.8 million budget), can the additional cost of the recommended changes be justified?
  4. Time: If there is additional time needed for this option, can that be justified? (Time added to the schedule should be minimal)
Evaluate the positive and negative future impact or implications of each modification (i.e. which aspect of the change will help - or not help - achieve these stated criteria). Then, write a 2-3 page memo to Tom Corcoran that provides your evaluation (Ellet, p. 197-213).

Formatting Requirements: The length should be 2-3 pages in memo format (Times New Roman, 12, single-spaced, proper memo heading and signposting).

Source Requirements and Plagiarism Disclaimer: Every source mentioned in the paper must be cited in APA style. Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism should be dealt with harshly at this point of the semester. Passing/failing a student should be seriously considered if they do not understand the seriousness of plagiarism.

Deadline: November 12, 11:59 pm. Name your file as "Your first name_critique"

Grading Rubric
Sample Paragraph:
[Name of the modification option]
This modification option seems to be a very sound measure and definitely needs to be incorporated to Project C because PermaTuf A and B failed to meet the desired goals. It will ensure high product quality and will also lower warranty and service costs. Although this change does involve the project delay of three to four months, it will ensure that Project C does not run into the same problems as A and B did by increasing product quality and lowering costs. Although there is $1.2 million initial cost for this change, it will be fully recovered by the year 19XX. By 19YY, Project C by itself will increase contribution by ...% percent compared to its total contribution in the year 19ZZ. With each year after the launch of the new model, more and more of the increased revenue from the project will fall directly to the bottom line...
 
Note: You would ideally have one paragraph devoted to critiquing one modification option.