GENTECH 4EP3 – Winter 2024
Business Case Project Deliverables (50%)
Business Case Project Objective:
This project aims for your student team to learn how to prepare an industry-level Business Case that could be presented to a senior management team. It also demonstrates your ability to function cohesively as a team, a valuable and essential skill in today's business environment. A business case is a tool for identifying and comparing multiple alternatives for pursuing an opportunity and then choosing the one course of action that will create the most value for the firm. A well-developed Business Case can help you present a convincing argument to critical stakeholders whose support you need to implement your proposed solution. Working within a group to enhance skills such as Risk Analysis, Financial Analysis, and Stakeholder Analysis will help you demonstrate your future value to an organization and possibly see your engineering or management solution implemented.
List of Project Deliverables:
The Business Case Project is a group assignment – see deliverables under "opening stage," page 2 on forming your teams. Note: Individual Business Case Project submissions will not be accepted.
In a team of five (5) students, you will agree on a Business Case opportunity derived from your workplace or co-op positions or by other idea-generation approaches. Your team's business case must address a real-world organizational problem or opportunity - it can't be fictitious. A Business Case operates within an existing business and is not a newly created organization (but could be a new venture within a company). Students are encouraged to develop new business case ideas from their current or previous coop workplace experience or current workplace.
The Business Case Project consists of the following stages and phases:
- Opening Stage: Team Formation
- Complete your Basadur Innovation Styles Profile
- Self-Select your team members using the auto-enrolling function on A2L
- Complete your Team's BizCase Profile
- Phase 1 Idea Screen: Presented "live" as a team on the Zoom platform to the instructor (5%)
- Phase 2 Scope Screen: Present an Environmental Scan and Qualitative Analysis using the Zoom platform to create a pre-recorded video capture as a team for the instructor (10%)
- Phase 3A: Final Business Case team presentation "live" on the Zoom platform to the instructor (10%)
- Phase 3B: Final Business Case Written Report (20%)
- Closing Stage: Compete Peer Evaluation and Feedback process for all your Business Case Project team members (5%)
OPENING STAGE: TEAMS FORMED and TEAM PROFILE:
PART 1: Complete your Basadur Innovation Styles Profile (done individually)
- The Basadur Profile is a proven research-based instrument. It helps people identify and capitalize on their strengths. It lets companies tap into the full range of thinking and human talent at their disposal and allows tasks to be tackled in the most creative, analytical and innovative way, from problem-finding to implementation. The profile doesn't evaluate your creativity or innovativeness. It measures your preferences for activities in different stages of the creative process.
- After completing the profile, students are strongly encouraged to proactively design a team with a blend of members' specific preferences for problem-solving and innovation, as identified from the Basadur Profile. The instructor will list all the students' innovation preferences at the beginning of the second course week.
Part 1 Due Date: Complete Basadur's profile & upload it to dropbox by: Sunday Jan 14, 2024 @ 11:59pm
PART 2: Self-Select Your Team
- Form a self-selected team of 5 members (max number of teams per course section is 12)
- Remember to consider forming a team with students with a range of innovation and problem solving styles, as identified from the Basadur Profile.
- Students will self-select their team members using the group self-enrollment functionality built into A2L. Watch the following video to learn how easy it is to enroll in a group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeC4tg03sHY
- NOTE: Students will be automatically and randomly assigned to a team through the A2L group function if they have not already self-selected their teammates by the expiry date provided.
Part 2 Due Date: Complete A2L group self-enrollment by: Friday Jan 19, 2024 @ 11:59pm
PART 3: Complete Team Profile
- Create a Team Name (ensure its appropriate for a professional context)
- Provide a Team Picture (required) with all members visible and their names identified
- Write a Brief Bio on each member that includes the following:
- BTECH stream and co-op experience for each team member
- Strengths and skills each team member brings to the project
- Identify each member preferred Basadur Profile innovation style
- There are many examples of Team Profile layouts and templates on the web that you can adapt to your needs. Mandatory format of having Team Profile on ONE page only!
Part 3 Due Date: Complete Team Profile & upload to dropbox by: Sunday Jan 21, 2024 @ 11:59pm
PHASE 1: BIZCASE IDEA SCREEN PRESENTATION (5%)
Presentation Slides Due: Monday Feb 05, 2024 @ 11:59pm (A2L Group Dropbox)
Presentation Date: Team presentations will occur during the class period in Week 5, with the presentation slots assigned by group number (Team 1 has 1
st slot, Team 2 has 2nd slot, etc.)
- Each group will only have 6-minutes for the presentation in addition to a 4-minute question period at the end (total time of 10 mins per team)
- ALL team members must contribute to delivering some part of the zoom presentation. Failure to participate or attend will be an automatic zero for that individual team member. If a team member is late, the same penalties apply.
Zoom meeting setup during the Idea Screen Student Presentations:
- The instructor will enable the "Waiting Room" feature during these presentations. Your team will be admitted to join the meeting only when another team has completed their presentation. Your team must arrive at the zoom session a few minutes earlier than your scheduled time. You will see the following screen when joining the meeting with Waiting Room enabled: "Please wait the meeting host will let you in soon."
- The instructor will also enable screen sharing so the student team can share their slide presentation during the zoom session.
- I would encourage ONE team member to control the flow of the slide presentation to ensure the correct slide is open when the assigned team member is speaking.
- Before "passing off" to the next team member, I recommend that you mention their name to help facilitate a smooth and professional transition between presenters.
- It is essential to be aware of your time and rehearse your presentation in advance. During the "live" performance, it's easy for one team member to take too much time, thus reducing the amount of time available for the other speakers to ensure the entire presentation stays on time. There will be a grade reduction for exceeding the time limit.
- The key is to practice with your team in advance, so your presentation is smooth, on time and professional.
- Please watch the video we prepared: "Zoom - How to be Professional," for guidance and tips on success as a presenter in the remote learning environment.
- Review the Idea Screen Notes for tips to enhance your team's presentation success. As well, visit the Zoom Help Center for further information on using the platform at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us Presentation Slides:
- To be uploaded to the Idea Screen Assignment Submission folder on A2L by the date/time indicated
- The team presentation slides are expected to cover the topics identified in the rubric using a professional presentation approach designed to influence senior executives with limited time and competing for organizational priorities.
- Remember, your team only has approximately 45 seconds per slide to present the material required.
- Presentation slides must provide APA formatted references for cited material as required. The reference list can be located on a separate slide(s) at the end of your slide deck. You are not required to show this slide during your Zoom presentation.
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Professionalism, Cohesion & Preparation |
• ALL group members are present and on time in the zoom platform waiting room • ALL team members have a webcam/phone camera engaged during the presentation • Delivery of presentation factors such as; the speed of voice, rate, fluctuations, looking into the camera, etc. • Appropriate team image & attire (as if presenting to executives) • A proper level of preparation - the team, has rehearsed the presentation and is within the required time limit |
5 |
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Clear Presentation |
All the relevant areas of the IDEA SCREEN PHASE are presented and explained adequately:
1. Introduce your team & include a team photo (1 slide)
2. Provide a brief description of the industry and business problem or opportunity that the project addresses. (Think of your past co-ops as inspiration for this idea) (1-2 slides)
3. Explain what you're trying to accomplish in 5-6 bullet points. (1-2 slides)
4. A concisely crafted future focus Opportunity Statement addresses the previously mentioned problem/opportunity. (1 slide)
5. Appropriate and relevant Business Objectives resulting from your opportunity statement (1 slide)
6. One or more specific Metrics are identified to measure the success of each business objective (1 slide)
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10 |
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Ability to Answer Questions |
The team understands the background and the identified opportunity well and is prepared to defend the choice |
3 |
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PPT Slides |
• The slides are professionally formatted with no spelling or grammatical errors
• Appropriately cited & referenced using proper APA format as required
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2 |
|
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TOTAL:
Weighted Grade (out of 5%):
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20 |
PHASE 2: BIZCASE SCOPE SCREEN PRESENTATION (10%)
The Scope Screen will have two separate deliverables; 1) a pre-recorded video capture of your team presentation using the Zoom platform and 2) a separate slide deck in .pptx format of the same presentation. These elements will be uploaded to the group assignment submission folder by Monday, Mar 04, 2024 @ 11:59pm.
Team Video Capture of your Presentation using Zoom:
- Your team will use the Zoom platform to video capture your Scope Screen presentation.
- The presentation time is a maximum of 10 minutes – starting from your team's introduction to the closing. Note: Any time required for zoom setup and shutdown (non-presentation time) will not count toward the time limit restriction.
- All team members must be involved in presenting a component of the presentation. Failure to participate will be an automatic zero for that individual team member.
- When recording the presentation in the Zoom platform, you must set it up so that your PowerPoint slides and ALL the presenters (from the waist/shoulders on up) are captured. The current presenter (the person speaking) will show up in a small box on the upper right-hand side of your PowerPoint presentation.
- Even though the presentation is a video, all team members should dress in business casual attire to present to an organization's senior executive team. Also, please be mindful of what is happening in the background of your presentation space (dirty laundry, distracting pets/family members, posters on the wall, etc.).
- The video capture must be uploaded as an MP4 file to the assignment submission folder on A2L by the due date/time indicated (note Zoom automatically renders the video capture into a compressed .mp4 format).
- There are detailed instructions on the course website on how to save to MacVideo
- Once the video is saved, you will paste the link on the last slide of your Scope Screen Presentation slides
- Visit the Zoom Help Center for further information on recording layouts, local recording to your computer, and file saving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXgJWxGpl3o
- The required framework for your PowerPoint slide deck setup;
- Mandatory that your slide deck is uploaded as a .pptx file (DO NOT CONVERT THE POWERPOINT TO PDF). The instructor MUST BE ABLE to read the notes section of your slides in detail after watching your video capture presentation.
- During your video capture 10-minute presentation, your team's slide show mode should focus on presenting the material from a big picture or summary point of view, using charts and easy-to-read bullet points. Remember, your team only has approximately 1.5 minutes per slide to present the topic areas identified in the rubric.
- However, within the "notes section" of your slide deck, you are expected to thoroughly explain the topic areas you have presented in your video. You must provide detailed research to support the topic areas of your presentation. See the Scope Screen slide deck exemplar in the assignment folder on A2L.
- You must provide proper APA formatted in-text citations & references for the material within the notes section of your PowerPoint slide deck. The reference list can be located on a separate slide(s) at the end of your presentation.
- The final slide in your presentation should include the link to your Zoom Recording uploaded to MacVideo.
SCOPE SCREEN PRESENTATION RUBRIC
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Professionalism, Cohesion & Preparation |
• Delivery of presentation factors such as; the speed of voice, rate, fluctuations, looking into the camera, etc.
• Appropriate team image & attire
• An appropriate level of preparation - the team has rehearsed the presentation and is within the required time limit
• Smooth transition between presenters and all team members contributes to the performance
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6 |
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Agenda |
The team provides an outline of topics to be discussed during the opening of the presentation |
1 |
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Business Case Defined |
Opportunity Statement & Objectives that are specific and measurable (incorporated feedback into any revisions) |
6 |
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Environment Scan |
• Provide the viewer/reader with an understanding of what other organizations have done to address similar problems.
• Internal Organizational Analysis of the target firm/organization
• Comprehensive CREST analysis so the viewer/reader can understand the proposed business case direction and influencing macro-level trends
• A SWOT analysis that provides a summary of the significant elements extracted from the internal and external analysis
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10 |
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Stakeholder Analysis |
• List all interested parties that the project may impact (positively or negatively).
• Categorize the parties between "internal/external" and "primary" (i.e. directly impacted and involved in the project) / "secondary" (affected but not directly involved in the project).
• Stakeholders are mapped according to their level of influence and level of interest in the project
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8 |
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Alternatives |
• Identified three (3) or more viable and different alternatives as solutions that meet the business problem/ opportunity
• The alternatives are TRULY distinguishable and unique and can be differentiated in terms of costs and benefits
• Identifies and thoroughly explains several relevant assumptions related to each of the different alternatives
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8 |
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Risk Analysis |
• Completed Risk Analysis charts
• All general project risks are identified
• All risks specific to each alternative have been identified
• The risks related to Status Quo have been identified
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8 |
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PPT Slides |
• The slides are professionally formatted with no spelling and grammatical errors
• The supporting research within the notes section is appropriately cited & referenced using the proper APA format.
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3 |
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TOTAL:
Weighted Grade (out of 10%):
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50 |
PHASE 3: FINAL BIZCASE PRESENTATION & REPORT (30%)
PHASE 3A: Final BizCase Team Presentation (10%)
Presentation Date: Team presentations will occur in weeks 11/12 during the scheduled class period.
- WEEK 11: All teams in the STAR category present the week of March 25-29, 2024, with the presentation slots assigned by group number (Team 1 has 1st slot, Team 2 has 2nd slot, etc.)
- WEEK 12: All teams in the ACE category present the week of April 1-5, 2024, with the presentation slots assigned by group number. Presentation Slides Due:
- STAR Category: Monday March 25, 2024 @ 11:59pm (A2L Group Dropbox)
- o ALL GROUPS in the STAR category must submit their presentation slide deck to the Group Dropbox (A2L) no matter when your team presentation is scheduled in Week 11 (no exceptions).
- ACE Category: Monday April 01, 2024 @ 11:59pm (A2L Group Dropbox)
- o ALL GROUPS in the ACE category must submit their presentation slide deck to the Group Dropbox (A2L) no matter when your team presentation is scheduled in Week 12 (no exceptions).
- The presentation will happen "live" over the Zoom platform. See presentation tips and structure under the "Idea Screen Deliverables."
- All members of the group MUST participate in the presentation
- Each group will have 20 minutes, including 15 minutes of presentation time and 5 minutes for answering questions. Note that the instructor will stop the presentation at 15 minutes; if this happens, your group will have 5% deducted from your presentation grade. For this reason, it's highly advisable to rehearse with each other before your presentation date.
- All members earn the same as the group grade.
Final Business Case Presentation Rubric:
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Evaluation Criteria |
Mark |
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A. Introduction |
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The title / Business Case topic clearly announced
Team Members Introduced and Attention-getter
Introductory overview/Agenda presented: list main points
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/5 |
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B. Body |
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Content /6
Covered all points of the Business Case adequately
Adequately researched, understood, & conveyed
Well-chosen words; jargon explained; numbers contextualized
Structure
It is suited to the topic. Logical. Easy to follow. /4
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/10 |
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Delivery
The material was NOT read/Presenters worked well together
Persuasive and enthusiastic/Relevant
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/5 |
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Eye Contact
Established eye contact with the webcam (aka – the audience) during the entire presentation
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/5 |
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Visual Appeal
The slides were helpful & easy-to-read supportive visual aids for the audience.
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/5 |
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Voice / Volume / Projection
All words could be clearly heard. No fillers. Varying pitch and tone.
Smoothness, rehearsed, lack of "umms," well-organized speaker hand-offs
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/5 |
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Coherence/Time Management
The presentation was coherent. Adequately planned & rehearsed. /2
Managed time: 15 min presentation + 5 min questions /3
Start: Fin:
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/5 |
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Virtual Meeting Platform Mannerisms
Appropriate gestures and facial expressions. /2
Appropriate presentation space background. /2
Poise/Professional demeanour/Appropriate dress code. /2
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/6 |
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C. Conclusion
Closing summary: summarize the main points
Ability to answer questions. Handled questions effectively
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/4 |
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Qualitative feedback (strengths & weaknesses):
FINAL PRESENTATION SCORE CALCULATION
FINAL GROUP WEIGHTED PRESENTATION SCORE:
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/50
/10 |
PHASE 3B: BizCase Final Written Report (20%)
Due Date: Monday, April 8, 2024 @11:59pm (A2L Group DropBox)
• The final report will include all business case sections, including what was developed and revised from your Idea Screen & Scope Screen presentations. However, it must be written as a report, not in aslide presentation format.
• It will include an Executive Summary, the defined opportunity, identified alternatives, feasibility & impact analysis, stakeholder & risk analysis, detailed and accurate estimated financial metrics andreturn on investment statements, implementation plan, and relevant appendices.
• Individual submissions will not be accepted, and no emailed assignments will be accepted.
• Each main section will be graded to arrive at a final grade (see BizCase Rubric for details).
EXPECTED BUSINESS CASE REPORT FORMAT:
The report should comply with formal report requirements (i.e., title page, executive summary, table of contents, subtitles, grammatically correct, no plagiarism, all required sections, and citations using APA format). The report should be written professionally (3rd person) without point form, excessiveabbreviations, or unexplained jargon.
The report should be approximately 20 pages and no more than 30 pages, including the front cover andall appendices. Focus on being concise but thorough in writing the report.
REPORT LAYOUT REQUIREMENT:
Front Matters
Title Page
• Title page – name(s), student number, course name, the title of the Business Case report
• Declaration Statement of own work. Please cut & paste from the example below and place it on the bottom of your title page);
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This report contains our work for GENTECH 4EN3/4EP3 and has not been submitted, in whole or in part, towards fulfilling requirements in any other course, either at McMaster University or elsewhere. I/We have read McMaster's academic integrity policy and understand that intentional or unintentional plagiarism will be dealt with under university policy and practice.
Name: Date:
Name: Date:
Name: Date:
Name: Date:
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Table of Contents
• Outline topic areas with page numbers
Executive Summary
• It should be a short one/two-page stand-alone document, sufficient in content to ensure that the reader can completely understand the entire report.
Body of Report
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Required Report Content (by Section) |
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Project Background, Description & Rationale |
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Opportunity Statement, Business Objective & Aligned Metrics |
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Environment Analysis (internal and external, including CREST & SWOT) |
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Alternatives and Assumptions ( 3 or more) |
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Business & Operational Impacts, including Stakeholders Mapping |
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Project Risk Assessment (Risk Analysis) |
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Cost/Benefit Analysis (Financial Analysis)** |
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Conclusions & Recommendations |
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Implementation Strategy & Metrics |
** Cost/Benefit Analysis: The supplied Cost-Benefit Excel spreadsheet template must be used to enter the cost and benefit numbers to perform the financial analysis calculations for EACH of your different business case alternatives. There must be separate excel workbooks for each alternative (including Status Quo) uploaded to the assignment drop-box as stand-alone workbooks within the excel file format.
Note: This is a mandatory component of the Business Case Assignment. Failure to upload the completed spreadsheets is an automatic grade of zero on the Financial Analysis section of the report.
Back Matters
Biography
• All ideas and direct quotes you have obtained from other sources must be cited (in text) according to APA style guidelines and listed on APA style Reference Page. Failure to do so will be considered plagiarism and could result in a zero grade on the report and may be reported to the Undergraduate Office, which could result in further academic penalties.
Appendix
• Include any other pertinent information that would strengthen the business case report, such as materials from the organization or other sources.
Cited and Referencing:
• It is expected that your Business Case Report will contain numerous industry-type sources to support your research and recommendations. These include peer-reviewed academic organizational management journals, reports from recognized industry "think tanks" or leading consulting organizations, and leadership and corporate management books from scholarly publishers.
• Webpages should complement, not supplement, these sources listed above (note – using Wikipedia for research is inappropriate for this report).
• All ideas and direct quotes you have obtained from other sources must be cited (in text) according to APA style guidelines and listed on APA style Reference Page. Failure to do so will be considered to be plagiarism.
• Be aware of McMaster University's policies regarding plagiarism. The university makes use of Turnitin.
• Plagiarism: Automatic Grade of ZERO on the assignment and may be reported to the
Academic Integrity Office, which could result in further academic penalties
APA Citing Resources:
• There are several APA resources listed on the course website site as well as the links below:
▪ McMaster University Library – APA Style Guides
• https://libguides.mcmaster.ca/APA
▪ APA Style.org
• http://apastyle.apa.org
Late assignments will receive an immediate 10% deduction from the assignment mark, plus a further 10% late penalty per day will be applied and deducted from the assignment mark. Assignments that have not been submitted within three (3) days after the due date will not be graded and will be awarded a score of ZERO.
BUSINESS CASE REPORT RUBRIC
Please refer to the Business Case Report Grading Rubric for additional information regarding grade allocation. It is strongly recommended you review this document in detail to FULLY understand the expectation of the Final Business Case project report.
CLOSING STAGE: PEER EVALUATION & FEEDBACK (5%)
OPENS: Monday, April 01 @ 6:00am
CLOSES: Wednesday, April 10 @ 11:59pm
• Each student is required to complete a peer evaluation process for each BizCase team member.
• The results will have a maximum influence of 5% based on team members' ability and contribution to the BizCase Team.
• The process will be conducted using TEAMMATES, an Online Peer Feedback System for student team projects.
o NOTE: Failure to complete a peer evaluation for ALL your team members by the due date will result in a ZERO grade on your peer evaluation component.
The following 12 contribution areas are evaluated;
• SECTION A: Participation in BizCase Team Meetings
• BizCase team meeting attendance
• BizCase team meeting promptness
• The caliber of preparation for BizCase team meeting (i.e. familiar with background topics and deliverable documents for the different project phases)
• SECTION B: Effectiveness of Contribution to Business Case Project
• Demonstrated ability to perform an environmental scan to determine the competitive advantage and operating environment for a product or service innovation appropriate for an existing organization
• Demonstrated proficiency in interpreting and analyzing stakeholder and risk impact on industry-level innovation proposal
• Demonstrated ability in diagnosing industry-level qualitative and quantitative analyses for an enterprise investment proposal
• The caliber of contribution for ALL the BizCase Project elements
• SECTION C: Effectiveness as a Member of the BizCase Team
• Level of enthusiasm and commitment
• Level of teamwork and cooperativeness (i.e. worked productivity with teammates)
• Demonstrated and exercised leadership within the team
• Carried a fair share of the overall workload during all phases of the BizCase Project
• Overall Contribution Evaluation