this is the expansion of week 5 which you did last week path 2 always the instructions can be found on the week 1, 2, and 5 instructions its 15 page single spaced so 30 pages double spaced

week1Assignment1 xWeek2Assignment2ProjectPlanandFormalProposal11 xWeek5Assignment121 x

 this is the expansion of week 5 which you did last week 

path 2 always 

the instructions can be found on the week 1, 2, and 5 instructions 

its 15 page single spaced so 30 pages double spaced 

Team Charter and Project Summary

Introduction

This course revolves around the creation of a single, significant capstone project. In other words, a project that caps off your learning and your program, allowing you to demonstrate the competencies of leadership and collaboration, ethical and evidence-based decision making, and innovative and strategic thinking. For your capstone, you will either work with a real company or choose a real company to analyze in a way that demonstrates your understanding of the MBA program outcomes. You will turn your analysis of that company into a written report with recommendations and a formal presentation for your intended audience.

Scenario

For this assignment, follow either Path 1 or Path 2. You will use the same path throughout this course. If you have Path 1, Riipen Team, you have already received a notification from the faculty chair. Otherwise, proceed with Path 2, Individual Project. Write your instructor if you have questions. You do not need to do both paths. You will apply one of these scenarios in the Requirements below. Both paths will be graded using the same scoring guide.

Path 1: Riipen Team

To support your work as a team member, as well as the success of your team, your first task is to work as a group to develop a team project charter. A template is provided which covers the areas of Commitments, Team Meeting ground rules, Meeting Guidelines, Meeting Procedures, and Team Member Roles/Responsibilities.

Ensure that all team members have read and watched the preliminary material provided by your instructor about the project organization. You may then wish to specifically consider the following:

· Discuss and document the team’s purpose, as well as define a common set of team goals.

· Identify, as a group, what the team will do to achieve the goals.

· Identify the talents, strengths, and challenges for individual team members, as well as the overall team strengths and challenges.

· Identify strategies that will help overcome difficulties or challenges with team members and the project overall.

· Discuss and document the agreements and commitments that members make to one another and to the team project.

· Designate a project manager for the team.

It is very important that each team member participates fully and seriously considers the content of the team charter. The conversations and agreements that you reach, including the roles and responsibilities that you document in the charter, will become the guideline for helping assess your contributions to the project at end-of-term. It will also help you to hold each other accountable. Every team member is expected to be active in every aspect of project research, completion, and delivery. In Week 9, team members will have the opportunity to provide a peer evaluation and score their teammates; those scores will impact your final capstone presentation (Unit 9) and paper (Unit 10) grade. If all teammates indicate that one person did not participate at least at a 70% level, that learner may not pass this capstone course.

Important: After the team charter is complete and ready for submission to the courseroom, to formalize its acceptance and the agreement to abide by the terms specified, all members must sign the document (digital signing on a PDF is appropriate, as is printing, signing, and scanning back to PDF). Every deliverable is a team deliverable. This means that each person must submit the same team charter for grading that their peers submit. This is not a deliverable that needs to be shared with the client.

Note: The team charter is considered a “living document,” and should be revised as needed during the course if the team member roles and responsibilities change. Remember, the roles, responsibilities, and commitments made in this the document will provide input to the instructor and be used to assess each team member’s performance, as well as the overall performance of the team.

Path 2: Individual Project

For this assignment, you will introduce the organization you have chosen to research, discuss why you chose it, and how it will allow you to demonstrate all of the MBA program outcomes. Having a solid, doable scope is an important part of creating a successful capstone project, and the exact scope is up to you. To help you establish a realistic scope, you will start with the project summary. Be careful to consider the scalability of your project scope, ensuring that it demonstrates your ability to lead in a business environment and showcases your achievement of all MBA program outcomes.

Examples

A scope that is poorly defined:

· I want to write a general analysis of the bookseller, Barnes & Noble.

. This topic is too broad, and it would probably require hundreds of pages to address all of the possible analyses.

A scope that is better defined:

· I want to focus on how Barnes & Noble has managed to survive the Internet age while Borders has crumbled.

. What makes this a better scope? The scope is grounded in a problem (such as how to survive Internet competition) or opportunity (such as the area lacking a business that you plan to open), which allows you to focus the analysis.

. It must also allow for you to analyze and suggest evidence-based recommendations, takeaways, or actionable next steps as the crux of your project.

Assignment Description

For Riipen team members, complete the Team Charter Template (linked in the Resources) clearly and completely. Include a title page and references page. This should be written in a professional tone, with no spelling or grammatical errors. Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.

For all others, write a 2–4 page paper, in an academic writing style, that details the topic and scope of your capstone project. Your project summary should be well organized, including an introduction, statement of scope, demonstration of outcomes, and a conclusion. Write clearly and concisely, yet thorough enough for your instructor to provide feedback and guidance. Include the following:

· Describe the background of your chosen organization.

. Provide a brief introduction of your selected organization to tell the reader what to expect of this summary document, including the business’ background, product lines, number of years in business, organization structure, location, et cetera.

. If you choose an organization for which you work, your introduction must include a statement that you received permission to use the company from a supervisor.

· Describe a business topic, problem, or opportunity that you intend to research.

. Describe the problem or opportunity you see that makes this company a good choice. Ensure that your scope focuses on a specific question that you have, problem you have researched, or opportunity that preliminary research suggests the organization is missing.

. Explain the scope of your project by clearly identifying the topics or areas you intend to research.

· Explain the level of accessibility to data necessary to examine the chosen business topic, problem, or opportunity.

. Address how you will go about obtaining the data.

. Identify any special requirements that you might need to meet to access the data you will need.

. Explain risks that you think will be encountered and the mitigation plan to manage those risks.

. Include at least 1 APA citation for a source that you have used for preliminary research.

· Explain how your topic will allow you to showcase your leadership ability by demonstrating each MBA program outcome.

. List out each program outcome clearly, and then explain in 3–4 sentences how your topic will allow you to demonstrate each MBA program outcome. The MBA program outcomes are listed in the capstone project description.

. Identify specific items of your project summary that you believe demonstrates the outcome.

· Wrap up your paper with a clear, concise conclusion that summarizes your plan. Just a couple of sentences is fine.

Submission Requirements

· Style:

. The team charter should be written in a professional tone.

. The project summary should follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines for academic style. It should be double spaced, use subheadings, and be well organized and well written.

. Note: This is the only academic formatted paper you will complete in this course. Future papers will use a professional format (single-spaced, et cetera).

· Communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message and quality.

· APA guidelines: Format the project summary according to current APA style and formatting.

· Resources: Use at least one resource that is a scholarly article or other content found in the Capella library, and one should be from the Wall Street Journal. If using Internet sources, evaluate them appropriately to make sure they are credible resources.

· Length: 2–4 pages.

· Font and font size: 12 point, Times New Roman.

Week Assignment 2

Project Plan and Formal Proposal

Introduction

In week 1, Riipen team members developed a team charter to clarify and document the direction for your capstone project. For this assignment, you will complete a project plan.

For all other learners, you should now have a firm grasp on the scope of your project based on the feedback you received from your instructor on the project summary submitted in week 1.

Whichever project you are on, it is important that you clearly understand the scope of your project. In fact, if someone asks you what your project is about, you should have an “elevator speech” prepared. That is, you should have memorized 1–3 sentences that explain the topic, problem, and scope in a clear and concise way. With just these few sentences, explaining your project to someone while on a short elevator ride would be no trouble at all! Additionally, having such a clear vision will help you with creating a project plan (Riipen teams), project proposal (individual path), and the project overall. Create an elevator speech and incorporate it as part of your introduction in this assignment, whichever path you are taking.

Scenario

Path 1: Riipen Team

By this point you should have either met with your client or have a meeting scheduled for this week. Now it is time to work with your team members to develop a project plan which clearly specifies the deliverables that will meet both the needs of your client and the needs of the course. Your plan will include project objectives, a SWOT analysis, project scope, a work breakdown structure that specifies responsibilities for each task, a project schedule, and a communication plan.

Use the Project Plan Template linked in the Resources to complete the following:

1. Write an executive summary. This is described on the first page of the Project Plan Template.

2. Identify project objective(s), course milestones, and client deliverables. Based on your initial meeting with your client, prepare a brief description of the project objective, course milestones, and client deliverables. In addition, describe what the project will accomplish for the client or what benefit it will provide. Hint: This is where the “elevator speech” can come in handy.

3. Complete a brief SWOT analysis based on the client meeting notes and research you conduct on your client. Your focus should be on gaining a better understanding of what will help make your project a success.

4. Define a clear, well-bounded project scope. Develop a very focused description of your project’s scope, following the guidelines in the Project Plan Template. Your project should be very well-bounded and should reflect the expectations of what your client hopes to achieve with the project as well as what is and what is not to be included in the project. For example, if your project involves recommending a new software package to solve a problem for the client, you might include what problem the client hopes to solve with the software package, that it is in scope for the team to analyze different software and produce a recommendation that meets client needs, but it is not in scope to install the software or train client personnel.

5. Describe the work breakdown structure based on the project objectives, course milestones, and client deliverables. Include all of the tasks that will be necessary to achieve the project objectives. Identify which team members will complete which tasks. Make sure you include as deliverables those expected by the client as well as the course milestones and tasks as listed below:

1. Week 1: Team Charter.

2. Week 2: Project Plan.

3. Weeks 3 & 4: Conduct Research and Investigate Options.

4. Week 5: Preliminary Solution/Recommendation With Justification.

5. Week 6: Potential Legal, Ethical, Policy, Social, and Global Implications of Proposed Solution/Recommendation.

6. Week 7: Initial Draft of Project Report for Submission to Smarthinking.

7. Week 9: Presentation of Project Results to Client.

8. Week 10: Final Project Report.

6. Complete the communication plan as described in the Project Plan Template.

7. Create a time schedule that clearly shows who will complete each task in the work breakdown structure and when it will be completed. Your time schedule may require days as units, given the relatively short duration of the project. It should also account for adequate time for team members to provide input and feedback on work completed.

8. Create a project quality plan that indicates how the team will ensure quality output in the form of deliverables, solutions, and recommendations.

Important: After the project plan is complete and ready for submission to the courseroom, all members must sign the document (digital signing on a PDF is appropriate, as is printing, signing, and scanning back to PDF). Every deliverable is a team deliverable. This means that each person must submit the same project plan for grading that their peers submit. These are not deliverables that need to be shared with the client unless they are requested; although sharing the project plan may help the client understand how you will be approaching the project and give them confidence in the final results.

Please keep in mind that this project plan is a “living” document that should help guide your team’s work throughout the rest of the course. By clearly specifying due dates and responsibilities, you will help your team operate more efficiently.

Path 2: Individual Project

For this assignment, you will create a project proposal, including an outline. Your project proposal should be organized using these sections to organize the document:

· Executive Summary.

· Introduction. [Hint: Put your elevator speech here.]

. Summarize the capstone project topic, scope, and components; saying that your capstone will comprise a paper and presentation is not enough.

. Establish the premise of your paper; for example, if your plan is to talk about how Dillard’s department store can come back after a huge financial loss, you should include citations that establish its dramatic financial loss.

· Strategy and Scope.

. Provide a general action plan explaining how you will research, analyze, and identify recommendations or solutions to this business challenge or opportunity.

· Data Sources. Provide at least 3 sources you are considering, in full APA style and format.

. Discuss the general type of data sources you will be using to inform your analysis. Provide at least two specific sources that you are considering. These resources should be from credible sources such as the Wall Street Journal, IBIS, et cetera. Use the excellent Research Guide – MBA for locating credible resources from the Capella library’s business databases and article collections.

. Include the process or steps on how you will access the data necessary for analysis of a business topic or challenge.

· Action Plan and Timeline. How will you get this done and what is your plan?

· Outline of the Capstone paper. A preliminary outline of the sections that you will include in your actual capstone, including Executive Summary, Table of Contents, Introduction, SWOT Analysis, Ethics, Recommendations, and References, as well as any other sections that you deem appropriate.

· Conclusion.

. Include a wrap-up that ensures your supervisor or client that your project will meet all requirements, be valuable to them, and be completed on time.

. Be sure to conclude by asking for permission to continue to the next step.

· References: Use APA Style for all sources.

Assignment Description

For Riipen team members, complete the Project Plan Template clearly and completely. Include a title page and references page.

For all others, write a 3–4 page project proposal that formally asks for permission to continue, just as you might propose a project to a supervisor or client, including:

· Analyze a business challenge or opportunity.

· Define the strategy, scope, and action plan that you will use to complete the capstone project.

· Explain data sources that will support the analysis of the business topic or challenge.

· Write a conclusion.

Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.

Submission Requirements

· Style:

. The project plan should be written in a professional tone.

. The project summary should follow professional style, as described in the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines (available in the MBA Program Resources), including single-spaced paragraphs. It should use subheadings and be well organized and well written.

· Communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message and quality.

· APA guidelines: Format your citations according to current APA style.

· Resources: Use at least two citations from credible sources.

· Length: 3–4 pages (single-spaced, professional style).

· Font and font size: Use 12 point, Times New Roman.

Week 2 Discussion 1

Growing Towards the Future

In our modern world, technology is changing at a tremendously fast pace, and new knowledge is being created in virtually every field daily. With this continuous knowledge creation, it is impossible to remain static in your growth and expect to be continually successful. In other words, to stay relevant and effective in the workplace, you must always be learning and growing. Having a growth mindset is an important part of continuously updating your skillset. Now, as you are about to complete your MBA, is a good time to rededicate yourself to lifelong learning.

At this point in your MBA program you may also be thinking about how to leverage your new skills and MBA for upward career mobility. The Capella Career Center can help, but simply taking time to think through your achievements and goals is also really important.

Discussion Resources

View the following video for a brief overview of how growth mindset differs from a fixed mindset, considering how a growth mindset can be valuable to you in your career and life: 

· Spencer, J. (2017). 

Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset
 [Video]

 | 

Transcript

. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1CHPnZfFmU

Review these optional resources from the Capella Career Center for detailed tips on how and where to leverage your accomplishment statements:

·

Accomplishment-Focused Bullet Points [PDF]

.

· Capella Career Center (2015). 

LinkedIn upgrades: Introduction
 [Video]

 | 
Transcript
. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4ElTkYlHg&list=PL4zQKMBl7HgyBZ6PjpMVA6eaE5eIGqNII

·

Interviewing

.

·

Networking

.

·

Portfolio and Work Samples

.

Discussion Instructions

Hold some conversations with your classmates designed to help you think through your plan for how you will develop or meet your career goals, and how you will keep a growth mindset as you move forward in your career. Consider the following questions in your discussion:

· How are you developing your growth mindset and commitment to lifelong learning? What resources are you pursuing as you develop your growth mindset?

· Describe something you have achieved in your program that you are proud of.

Week 5 Assignment 1

Preliminary Recommendations Report and Rough Draft

Introduction

For Riipen team members, you have by now conducted research to further explore the client’s objectives or needs, discovered what other organizations have done to meet these objectives or address these needs, and identified a set of possible solutions or recommendations. This week you will create a preliminary recommendations report.

For those of you working individually, you have been hard at work on your capstone project and you will submit your work-to-date for feedback on your progress toward demonstrating your program outcomes. The more complete your draft, the more guidance and specific feedback your instructor will be able to provide.

Scenario

Path 1: Riipen Team

For this assignment, synthesize your findings and create a preliminary recommendations report in which you:

1. Summarize the project objective or need.

2. Briefly describe what other organizations have done to address these objectives or needs, and how it has worked out.

3. Present two or three alternative solutions or recommendations, and explain why they are viable.

4. Provide evidence-based justification for your solutions or recommendations.

5. List what is outstanding to complete the solutions or recommendations.

6. Identify your team’s final recommendation to the client and explain why it is the “best choice based on your research.

7. Write in a professional tone with no spelling or grammatical errors and cite all resources using current APA style.

Important: After the preliminary recommendations report is complete and ready for submission to the courseroom, all members must sign the document (digital signing on a PDF is appropriate, as is printing, signing, and scanning back to PDF). Every deliverable is a team deliverable. This means that each person must submit the same Preliminary Recommendations Report for grading that their peers submit. This deliverable need not be shared with the client unless requested.

Path 2: Individual Project 

For this assignment, you will submit a rough draft of your capstone project, the final draft of which is due in week 9. By creating a rough draft now, you ensure that you are making good progress; you make it easier to write without getting overwhelmed or falling behind, and you provide important information to your instructor to help them guide you in your content and writing.

Assignment Description

For Riipen team members, complete a preliminary recommendations report, using the scenario information for guidance. Include a title page and references page with the report. Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.

For all others, prepare a draft of your project, including the headings and subheadings you will use in your final submission. For each section, include the following:

· A partial or complete draft of your analysis and content.

· A summary of any missing components that will be included in your final draft.

· All data and references that support your work in the appropriate APA format.

· A list of data types and references that are missing or still being explored.

Review the scoring guide prior to submission to ensure you understand the expectations for this assignment.

Submission Requirements

· Style:

. The Preliminary Recommendations Report should be written in a professional tone.

. The capstone project draft should follow professional style, as described in the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines (available in the MBA Program Resources), including single-spaced paragraphs.

. It should use subheadings and be well organized and well written.

. For the project draft, be sure to use comprehensive headings and subheadings with, at minimum, executive summary, introduction, ethics, various body sections, recommendations, and conclusion.

· Communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message and quality.

· APA guidelines: Format your citations according to current APA style.

· Resources: Use at least five citations from credible sources.

· Note: Remember that as an MBA learner you have access to a free subscription to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Take advantage of that subscription now, and do some of your research in the WSJ. Include at least one source from the WSJ in your rough draft. Refer to the MBA Program Resources for more information.

· Length: At least 5 pages, excluding the cover page, table of contents, and references.

· Font and font size: Use 12 point, Times New Roman.

It is highly recommended that you check your writing through SafeAssign to ensure you have paraphrased, quoted, and cited sources correctly and that you submit your draft to Smarthinking for feedback.

Evaluation

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

· Competency 1: Apply foundational knowledge and an understanding of business systems, processes, and technology within and across core disciplines.

. Describes foundational knowledge and an understanding of business systems, processes, and technology within and across core disciplines.

· Competency 2: Integrate information across disciplines and from differing perspectives.

. Identifies relevant supportive and conflicting information (data, insights, best practices) across disciplines from differing primary functional perspectives individually and holistically.

· Competency 3: Think critically and analytically to provide evidence-based solutions to business challenges and opportunities.

. Develops logical, well-supported, solutions based on relevant, sound, logical, and credible evidence (data, insights, analyses, best practices) to solve business challenges and opportunities.

· Competency 4: Apply innovative, strategic, and sustainable approaches to business practice and planning.

. Describes innovative, strategic, and sustainable (long term) approaches to business practice and planning.

· Competency 5: Lead and collaborate in virtual, global, and culturally diverse environments.

. Describes leadership and collaboration principles and strategies for virtual, global, and culturally diverse environments.

· Competency 6: Integrate principles of ethics and integrity into business decisions.

. Describes principles of ethics and integrity as they relate to business decisions by assessing ethical implications and resolving ethical conflicts and dilemmas.

· Competency 7: Communicate clearly and effectively in a business environment.

. Writes coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a business professional.