25 hours
At least 1800 words
Final Project:
Business Plan
The term paper is a comprehensive semester-long project. Students will complete this project in the steps described below. Your Term Paper is your major contribution, where you will exhibit your learning. Students will develop a business plan for a future business operation in any area that might be related to sports: Sports team, athletic facility (gym, stadium, arena, etc.), services (medical, recreational, etc.), or other. In your plan, consider the following suggested (but not required) elements:
Marketing plan – What is the size of market you will go after? How would you assess that? What ways and means would you engage to explore and win the necessary market segments for your success.
Financial plan – Where would the initial capital come from? Predict the cash flow in the first months of the operation. When is your break-even point expected to appear? How would you finance the business growth? How would you finance operational costs?
Legal Plan – What legal challenges would have to be addressed? How would you make sure that your business is in accordance with the law?
Business operation – Develop an organizational structure. Discuss positions that would have to be filled. How many employees in those positions, planned compensation, required qualifications? I What will you use for a facility? Will it be rented, owned, constructed, or adapted? Where is the location? What is the cost of acquiring and cost of maintenance?
This project will incorporate important concepts and frameworks introduced throughout the course and will demonstrate the students’ ability to understand and properly apply these concepts in real-life contexts.
Parameters and guidelines for the term paper are as follows:
· Select an organization, e.g., a corporation, company, firm or association (ideally, an organization which you have some interest in starting or running) for in-depth analysis of their sports management practices.
· The term paper should be at least 1,500 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. Please keep in mind that the word count requirements point out the minimum amount of effort that should be put into the paper. Word count isn’t everything because quality of writing and research matters as well, but it is an indication of the quantity of effort put into the assignment. Note that word count does not include title, abstract, or reference pages. Not following this requirement will significantly impact the grade.
· Use scholarly peer-reviewed references rather than websites. Scholarly references are generally more credible and make a more persuasive argument. Non-academic websites are not typically recommended for academic writing. While most of the information generally is correct, it is not always reliable because anyone can change the content, bias is often present, and it is not peer-reviewed. For example, it’s best not to use news websites, Wikipedia, investopedia.com, about.com, smallbusiness.chron.com, huffingtonpost.com, ehow.com, forbes.com, cnn.com, online encyclopedias, or similar non-academic websites. Articles in these types of websites are written by reporters or individuals who may or may not be experts in the field, and consequently may have incorrect or biased information. Instead, it adds much more credibility to use the class eText, other related textbooks, and peer-reviewed articles, i.e. scholars have analyzed and evaluated the content for accuracy, quality, and reliability. Be sure to use the university library to help you find these types of scholarly references. The library has a setting in database searches that allow you to search for peer-reviewed articles only.
· It is acceptable to use a company website for research, say for example if you are researching Apple, it’s ok to use www.apple.com to describe their mission, strategy, financials, etc.
· The Term Paper should be well organized and encompass the above subject and content guidelines, and an electronic copy of the project should be submitted via Turnitin.
There are three phases in the Term Paper:
Company Selection and Summary (20%)
You may submit your company choice during weeks 1-4. You must choose a company and it must be approved by the end of week 4. You only need to post the company name and a short 1-paragraph summary of your plans for your term paper in the submission box – this is all that is required for this component of the assignment. If you receive a grade for this assignment, this means your project has been approved. The instructor will ask you to resubmit if not approved.
Rough Draft (20%)
The recommended page length for the rough draft is at least 750 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. The point of this submission is to get feedback so that your final submission has a greater chance of receiving a high grade, therefore it is to your advantage to submit as close to your final document as possible.
Final Draft (60%)
Your final draft should be submitted no later than Saturday, 11:59PM EST of week 13. Please thoroughly review all requirements above to ensure you have included all required components.
Soc 101: Principles of Sociology Assignment #1: “Where to Invade Film” Analysis 5-6 pages +Reference Page (25 points) |
Purpose of assignment:
· To explore how a country’s social structure/system impact individuals in their daily lives
· To use your sociological imagination to consider the 1.) historical/cultural 2.) political 3.) economic aspects that created and sustain these systems
· Analyze: consider several sources to help create a deeper understanding of the costs and benefits of the country set-up, and compare the same system from the American side.
Tasks
1. View the film. I recommend first watching it for fun to give yourself a basic idea of the content. After you view the film once, choose a topic/segment you would like to explore and rewatch it (you can also find these segments on YouTube for easy accessibility).
Research
2. Start Researching: Now that you know what country/system you will be exploring, take about an hour or so, to do some preliminary background research, or in other words a basic google search. Get a sense of how this systems functions. Keep your eye out for the historical, economic, and political forces that have influence over these systems. Jot down some key words or ideas that are recurring. Once you are done doing this, you will then follow the same process to explore the way America handles the same system. For instance, if you researched prison’s in Norway, you will also explore the American prison system along the same three dimensions. This process will help you develop good “key word” searches in the Holman library database.
4 Click to visit the Holman Library Sociology Research Guide and input your search words from your preliminary research. Sometimes what you are looking for will pop right up, other times the process will take longer and you will need to dig deeper into the publications; just know that this process can take time. Never hesitate to reach out to your librarians if you are still having a hard time finding what you are looking for. A strong paper should have the dimensions align, so that it is inherently comparative.
5. Start writing your Paper:
Introduction: Your introduction should concisely introduce your reader to the main ideas that your paper will explore. The last sentence, will also include a thesis statement or the main idea you are trying to convey to your reader. (one paragraph)
Body: Using your research from the Holman Library database, discuss the basic set-up of the system, as well as aspects of the society that contribute to that set-up; explain how the 1.) cultural/historical 2.) political and 3.) economic forces have created, influenced, and sustained this system(be sure to address one example of each and separate these ideas into paragraphs; each paragraph should have 3-5 sentences and also include a topic sentence) Follow the same process for the American side. You must cite all of your sources in text. (3-4 pages)
Working towards Progress: What policy ideas would you recommend for improving our current system. What are social reformers currently suggesting be done? Are there different sides or angles to this reform? (1/2-1 page)
Conclusion: Your conclusion should restate the main ideas of your paper and wrap up your essay, by reminding the readers of the basic ideas that you presented. Your topic sentence should reiterate your thesis statement. (one paragraph)
6. Citing Sources: Your paper you must include four (4) sources that support your analysis.
· Sources can include encyclopedia articles, books or book chapters, journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, or videos
· Holman Library Databases: https://libguides.greenriver.edu/sociology/find_evaluate_cite
· All sources need to be cited (use either APA or MLA style)
· you must include a “References” page (for APA style) or a “Works Cited” page (for MLA style)
· you must also include in-text citations for each of your sources
· Help on citing sources: https://libguides.greenriver.edu/citations/quick-overview
· How to find reliable sources: https://libguides.greenriver.edu/c.php?g=180010&p=1184150
· Other Requirements:
Papers should be:
Written in third person (no I, we, me, us etc.,)
Should be double spaced and written in Times New Roman with one-inch margins.
*See Grading Rubric on following page
Grading Rubric
Research |
10.0 pts |
5.0 pts |
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Analysis/ Discussion |
10.0 pts 5.0 pts 0.0 pts |
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Formatting |
5.0 pts 3.0 pts 0.0 pts Total: 25 points |