Posted: December 4th, 2013
Any technology related topic
Case Study #4
Summary:
· You will choose your own project teams – as there have been some complaints about the group participation in the past 3 case studies, I will leave it up to you to form groups. You may choose to keep the same groups!
· Your team will perform either a case study of a firm, or a briefing on an emerging technology.
· You will prepare a 20 slide power point presentation executive summary. You will post your presentation in the a discussion forum and prepare to answer questions from the class and the instructor.. Grading criteria is available in a spreadsheet entitled Case Study Grading Sheet.
Details:
The Project
You will asked to form a group and to research, write, and present either a case study or technology briefing. The exercise is very similar to tasks you’ll perform in the real world. You’ll often be called upon to understand new developments in technology & how they relate to your firm (the briefing example). And you’ll be asked to analyze a firm to understand its business model, whether it poses a threat or opportunity for any firms, and whether your firm can learn anything from it (the case example). Since this is business writing & presentation, you’ll have to write and present clearly, engagingly, and succinctly.
Any technology briefing should focus on a technology-related topic. It should include information about the topic and how the topic impacts business. It will be important to offer examples of firms impacted by or taking advantage of the topic, and any ‘trends to watch’. A good case or briefing won’t read like a Wikipedia entry, it will read like a good magazine article. The presentation will be both descriptive and engaging.
A case is an overview of major issues confronting a firm. Since this is a class on technology and management, any case should focus on how a firm leverages and/or is being impacted by technology. A case should discuss the firm, its industry, its competitors, and introduce assets under attack or resources that it can leverage/is leveraging for competitive advantage. The very best cases will read like the very best articles that you’d read in a business publication like Fortune or BusinessWeek. You’ll also summarize interesting facts and figures related in your case by creating an infographic slide that will be your center piece of the presentation.
Some team members are gifted writers, some are good at uncovering interesting facts or interpreting topics, some are star presenters or skilled with graphically and can excel at PowerPoint, Keynote (Mac), and infographic creativity. A good team will work together to combine the assets of all team members and produce a solid contribution that the class finds highly valuable. If done well, this project should be one that you learn a great deal from, are proud of, and are eager to discuss during job interviews. Some of you may even be inspired to seek employment relating to the firms and issues that you study.
Infographics
An infographic is a page-long, in our case a very busy Power Point slide (and it may be a VERY long page) graphical summary of interesting facts and statistics on a given topic. Never seen one? You can search for the term “Infographic” online, and check out resources like the Cool Infographics Blog, 10 Best Infographics of 2010, and 65 Terrific Social Media Infographics. Marketers should know that infographics are becoming a compelling and fun way to share information – good infographics often go ‘viral’ via social media, so learning to create one can be a strong promotional tool (and you’ll seem very cutting edge when you put “Skills: Infographic Creation” on your resume). Your can also look at this resource from Boston College – Infographic Guide.docx .
Presentations
A 20 slide Power Point presentation is a very short 20 minute presentation. Here are some recommendations.
1. Title slide has title and names of group member
2. Agenda
3. Introduction – tells your motivation for selecting topic or firm.
4. Infographic
5. 10-14 slides addressing specifics
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
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