Format for a Two Alternative/Two Criteria Decision Report BUS300 I. Introduction A. Identify the issue presented (choice between two alternatives) B. Identify the criteria for evaluation of the given alternatives C. State your main conclusion II. Evaluation of Selected Alternative A. Discuss strengths regarding first criteria B. Discuss weaknesses regarding first criteria C. Discuss weaknesses regarding second criteria D. Discuss strengths regarding second criteria E. State your mini-conclusion for the selected alternative III. Evaluation of Un-Selected Alternative A. Discuss weaknesses regarding first criteria B. Discuss strengths regarding first criteria C. Discuss strengths regarding second criteria D. Discuss weaknesses regarding second criteria E. State your mini-conclusion for the un-selected alternative IV. Conclusion A. Compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of your two mini-conclusions B. State your main conclusion BUS 300 Critical Thinking and Persuasion Summer 2017 - Writing Assignment #1 Writing Assignment #1 Instructions You are an analyst for the Capital City Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (CMATA). CMATA is interested in hiring a management consulting firm to help overhaul CMATA’s image and public transit system. Your boss, the head of Transit Operations and Planning for CMATA, has asked you to review two management consulting firms and recommend one firm for hire. Your recommendation should be presented in the Two-Criteria, Two-Alternative Decision Template (handout). You should not include any outside information, e.g. data, studies, or reports, in support of your recommendation. Therefore, only the relevant criteria and facts from this business scenario prompt and your own reasonable inferences from those facts may be used in your final analysis. However, to understand the business concepts implicated in this prompt, you may find it necessary to conduct outside research for the sole purpose of familiarizing yourself with those concepts and effectively analyzing the prompt. You are strongly encouraged to conduct such research. Your memorandum should include a proper memorandum heading (i.e. “To”, “From”, “Re”, and “Date” lines). In addition, you should use Times New Roman 12-font type with one- inch margins and double-space your memorandum. Your completed assignment should be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 800 words (exclusive of the memorandum heading and any interim headings). You will not receive credit for any submissions below 500 words. Your boss needs your memorandum no later than 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. Upload your memorandum to the folder labeled “Writing Assignment #1” under the “Assignments” tab on Blackboard by no later than the deadline. If you have trouble uploading your memorandum, email a copy of the memorandum to your professor by that deadline. Please refe ...

1. Format for a Two Alternative/Two Criteria Decision Report
BUS300
I. Introduction
A. Identify the issue presented (choice between two
alternatives)
B. Identify the criteria for evaluation of the given alternatives
C. State your main conclusion
II. Evaluation of Selected Alternative
A. Discuss strengths regarding first criteria
B. Discuss weaknesses regarding first criteria
C. Discuss weaknesses regarding second criteria
D. Discuss strengths regarding second criteria
E. State your mini-conclusion for the selected alternative
III. Evaluation of Un-Selected Alternative
A. Discuss weaknesses regarding first criteria

2. B. Discuss strengths regarding first criteria
C. Discuss strengths regarding second criteria
D. Discuss weaknesses regarding second criteria
E. State your mini-conclusion for the un-selected alternative
IV. Conclusion
A. Compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of your two
mini-conclusions
B. State your main conclusion
BUS 300
Critical Thinking and Persuasion
Summer 2017 - Writing Assignment #1
Writing Assignment #1 Instructions
You are an analyst for the Capital City Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority (CMATA).
CMATA is interested in hiring a management consulting firm to
help overhaul CMATA’s image

3. and public transit system. Your boss, the head of Transit
Operations and Planning for CMATA,
has asked you to review two management consulting firms and
recommend one firm for hire.
Your recommendation should be presented in the Two-Criteria,
Two-Alternative Decision
Template (handout).
You should not include any outside information, e.g. data,
studies, or reports, in support
of your recommendation. Therefore, only the relevant criteria
and facts from this business
scenario prompt and your own reasonable inferences from those
facts may be used in your final
analysis. However, to understand the business concepts
implicated in this prompt, you may find
it necessary to conduct outside research for the sole purpose of
familiarizing yourself with those
concepts and effectively analyzing the prompt. You are
strongly encouraged to conduct such
research.
Your memorandum should include a proper memorandum
heading (i.e. “To”, “From”,
“Re”, and “Date” lines). In addition, you should use Times

4. New Roman 12-font type with one-
inch margins and double-space your memorandum. Your
completed assignment should be a
minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 800 words (exclusive
of the memorandum heading
and any interim headings). You will not receive credit for any
submissions below 500 words.
Your boss needs your memorandum no later than 2:30 p.m. on
Tuesday, July 11,
2017. Upload your memorandum to the folder labeled “Writing
Assignment #1” under the
“Assignments” tab on Blackboard by no later than the deadline.
If you have trouble uploading
your memorandum, email a copy of the memorandum to your
professor by that deadline. Please
refer to the course syllabus for policies regarding late
submissions, as these policies will be
strictly adhered to.
If you have any questions regarding Writing Assignment #1,
please contact your
professor.

5. BUS 300
Critical Thinking and Persuasion
Summer 2017 - Writing Assignment #1
Writing Assignment #1 Business Scenario
The Capital City Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (CMATA)
runs all of the public
transit in Capital City—primarily an elevated train system that
is about 100 miles long in total.
A base fare for a ride anywhere in the train system is $3.50.
Capital City is located in the
northern part of the country and has a population of 2.5 million
people. Its borders encompass
approximately 200 square miles of land.
CMATA has been experiencing a significant decline in
ridership, with a particularly
drastic drop in the past year. Just five years ago, ridership
averaged 700,000 daily but is now
down to 410,000. While CMATA conducts appropriate
maintenance of its trains, its fleet is
older than those of most other major American cities.

6. CMATA experiences some equipment failures each winter,
however this winter, Capital
City has already experienced record-breaking snowfall within a
short period of time and
unprecedented breakdowns in the transit system. The
significant snow accumulation has caused
railway switches to freeze, failures in the trains’ propulsion
systems, and power losses. As a
result, the transit system experienced two weeks of interrupted
train service in December and
January, with regular delays and periodic closures of almost
every rail line.
CMATA’s governing board is projecting a significant shortfall
in CMATA’s budget for
next year. Almost all of CMATA’s revenue is from fares and
government subsidies. However,
with the decline in ridership and fare revenues, CMATA is in
serious trouble. Further, according
to a recent poll conducted by Capital City’s best-selling
newspaper, there is a widespread
perception that CMATA wastes money and runs an over-
stressed and outdated transit system.
That poll also concluded that many of Capital City’s more

7. affluent residents generally find
public transportation to be “undignified”.
Given the severity of CMATA’s crisis, CMATA’s governing
board has concluded that a
radical solution is necessary. It has decided to hire a
management consulting firm to study the
situation and recommend changes. The board has narrowed its
choices to two firms, Transport
Methods and J.D. Hunt Consulting. Using the following criteria,
write an argument in favor of
the board’s hiring one firm rather than the other:
relevant to the issues
CMATA is experiencing.
success in devising radical
business solutions.
Transport Methods is a firm that specializes in public
transportation. Most of its
consultants have degrees from top institutions and specialize in
engineering, management
sciences, or operations management. It has far more experience

8. analyzing transit authorities than
any other consulting firm in the nation. A sizable majority of
the transit authorities that have
employed Transport Methods have subsequently experienced
satisfactory results. For example,
Transport Methods consulted for the San Francisco metropolitan
area transit system, a system
BUS 300
Critical Thinking and Persuasion
Summer 2017 - Writing Assignment #1
previously near failure due to operational issues. San Francisco
is now ranked the second best
transit system in the United States. The newest member of
Transport Methods’ team of
consultants is a former airline executive who is known for
advocating an overhaul of the nation’s
public transportation systems.
J.D. Hunt Consulting has experience in many industries but no
experience in public
transportation. All of its consultants have worked exclusively in

9. the private sector. J.D. Hunt is
mostly known as a Public Relations consulting firm but also has
departments devoted to
accounting and management consulting. J.D. Hunt services a
wide array of clients ranging from
Florida Power & Light Company to Goldman Sachs. In
addition, J.D. Hunt consulted for
Domino’s Pizza in 2008 and 2009 when it recommended that the
restaurant make major changes
to its pizza recipe and created a corresponding marketing
campaign. J.D. Hunt’s most successful
projects to date were the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Presidential
campaigns for President Susan
Steinberg. J.D. Hunt is the originator of the idea of centering
an election campaign on the notion
of “hope and change”. J.D. Hunt is known within the industry
as being “outside the box” and
providing unique solutions for a wide array of problems its
clients face.