Saturday, April 26, 2014

BUS577 Team Project Instructions

Overview
Throughout the semester, student teams will produce a comprehensive analysis of an Information Technology for "the firm" - which can be the fictitious company IVK per the Austin text or a firm of your team's choice (with the instructor's approval). There are five parts of the analysis, and during each session the team will complete one part of the analysis and post it on the Team Project Site. These weekly postings constitute Team Assignments 2-6. 
 
The team will also lead one class discussion (see the Biweekly Team Project Forum assignment below) on the IT that the team works on. The discussion is designed to solicit ideas, feedback and additional resources that the team can use for the Team Project.

During the last session, each team is required to give a live presentation in class, or through a virtual class meeting (hosted in Moodle), and produce a final report based on the weekly analysis, instructor feedback, and insights from the Team Project Forums.

Form Project Teams
You are encouraged to find team members and form teams on your own. The instructor can facilitate but the formation process usually works the best when initiated by the students. Students should form teams of 3-5 members. Please email the instructor names of your team members as soon as the team composition is finalized.

Create Team Project Site using Blogger (Team Assignment 1)
During the first session, your team will set up a Team Project Site like this one.
To do so, you will first create a new Gmail account for the team, and then use this new account to create a Blogger site.
Instructions for creating a Blogger site is available here

Configure the layout of the Team Project Site
1. Create five pages (IMPORTANT: you need PAGEs not POSTs)
  • Page 1: System Overview
  • Page 2: Cost Analysis
  • Page 3: Value Assessment
  • Page 4: Risk Assessment
  • Page 5: Competitive Analysis 
2. Make these five pages tabs across the top (like how the template is designed.) You can do so by "Adding a Gadget" on the Layout page of the Dashboard. See written instructions or video tutorial if needed.
  • "Add the Gadget" across the top, and then choose the "Pages" function.
  • Delete the Gadget's title (which is optional). The default title is "Pages." Delete it and save. 
3. Remove blog archive from the right-hand-side panel (by configuring the Layout on the blog Dashboard).
Implement Google Analytics
The student team must implement Google Analytics on the Team Project Site in order to track and analyze web traffic. You will discuss insights gained from Google Analytics at your final team project presentation.
  1. Sign up for Google Analytics using the Gmail account you used for creating the Team Project site. 
  2. Enter you Team Project site's URL, when prompted for an URL during Google Analytics set-up.
  3. Copy the "tracking ID", not "tracing code" when set up is complete.
  4. Follow instructions available here to paste the tracking ID into your Team Project Site.
  5. To verify your Google Analytics has been implemented properly, please follow suggestions available in this help document.
Topic Choices
(Session 3 Lead Team) A. Enterprise Resource Planning SAP ERP or Zoho or Oracle ERP
(Session 4 Lead Team) B. Cloud Computing: Amazon Web Services (AWS) for any industry
(Session 5 Lead Team) C. Blockchain: Supply Chain Management (SCM) for the food industry
(Session 6 Lead Team) D. Analytics: IBM Watson for the accounting/finance industry
(Session 7 Lead Team) E. Marketing or HR: Google Analytics and Google AdWords for marketing in any industry, or any of these HRIS for HR in any industry

Biweekly Team Project Forum
Each session (sessions 3-7) a team ("Session Lead Team") will prepare an in class (campus section) or voice-enhanced presentation (using VoiceThread in the online section)

Instructions for the Lead Presentation (20 points)

  1. A brief overview of the system your team is investigating (5 points)
  2. Its primary features and benefits (5 points)
  3. Presentation should integrate credible sources available from course learning materials (5 points)
  4. Questions you have for other members of the class, such as (5 points)
  • Have you used this system?
  • Does your organization use the system? If not, what does your organization use for these functionalities? The pros and cons of these competing systems?
  • What potential concerns (e.g., privacy, security, risks) do you have regarding implementing or using this system?
The presentation should be about 8-12 slides.

In the campus section, the Session Lead Team will present and lead discussions in class.

In the online section, the Session Lead Team will prepare the Lead Presentation for the Team Project Forum of the assigned 2-week. The Lead Presentation must be posted by 6pm in one week (on the first Tuesday). This allows other members of the class one week to respond to the Lead presentation (by 6pm on the second Tuesday).

The online Session Lead Team should present the slides with voice on VoiceThread. The team can decide who narrates the slides - it can be a dedicated person, a dedicated subteam, or the entire team.
Instructions for individual responses
Everyone who is not on the Lead Team of the Week must make one comprehensive response addressing questions raised in the Lead Presentation (20 points)

  • Be relevant. The comments are relevant to the discussion.
  • Be a good listener. The comments take into consideration the ideas previously shared by others rather than being isolated and disjointed.  Good class participation reflects good listening.
  • Be prepared. There is evidence of thorough reading and analysis of the material.
  • Be respectful. Disagreement/criticism of others’ comments is voiced constructively. Strong interpersonal skills are essential for success in a corporate environment.
  • Quality above quantity.  Please try to limit your comments to your best thoughts.
  • Be constructive. Try your best to contribute good ideas, critical analysis, and alternative perspectives. Your comment is the most useful and valuable when others can learn a new idea, a new solution, or a different way of looking at the same issue from you. Provide resources, ideas, and concerns that the Lead Team can incorporate into their Team Project.
  • Your response must integrate at least one credible source available from course learning materials.