BA 301 – Research & Analysis of Business ProblemsResearc.docx

BA 301 – Research & Analysis of Business Problems
Research Paper Guidelines and Instructions
Purpose
This term paper helps you gain skill in applying critical
elements of the problem solving process. In addition, it
enhances your understanding of real business problems and
opportunities, and how you can benefit from using a systematic
approach in solving them. While completing this project you’ll
have the opportunity to choose a company that interests you,
research that company in order to uncover and prioritize some
of the strategic and tactical problems facing the management
team, and use the problem-solving framework from class to
develop some creative solutions to the chosen problem. You’ll
also enhance your long-term perspective and understanding of
corporate sustainability by recognizing how economic issues
interact with social and/or environmental issues in real business
settings.
Expectations
Although the final report is due at the end of the term, I would
suggest that you not wait until the last minute to complete this
assignment. As we review key elements of the problem-solving
framework throughout the term, you’ll probably want to
immediately apply them to your project (you can see that I’m an
optimistic guy). In this way, as you run into issues and
concerns, you can discuss them with your group or with me.
This is a research paper, and good research takes time. It may
be helpful to have one or more members of your group review a

draft of your paper and give you feedback. It always helps to
let others review and critique your work. They can often see
things that you can’t, sometimes just because you are too close
to the material. Early on in the term you will be required to
provide a draft problem description for your paper as part of a
homework assignment. This is a crucial part of the project. If
the problem is defined poorly or too generally, it will adversely
affect the rest of your paper – and your grade!
Problem Selection
I have purposely not selected the corporate problems for you,
only a list of possible companies for your research. Early in the
course we will discuss Problem Description as a key step in the
problem-solving process. You can’t solve a problem if you
can’t identify and properly define it. Too often in past terms
students have defined a problem as a goal, or an objective, or an
issue. Problem definition begins with identifying symptoms.
Symptoms are indicators. Find a gap between the actual and the
desired or a contradiction between principle and practice. We’ll
talk more about this in class. You’ll need to do preliminary
research on your chosen company in order to uncover some of
the problems they face in today’s global business arena, and
then pick one that you specifically wish to explore further in the
context of the term paper.
Academic Honesty
The project is an individual project, and it is critical that you do
your own work. Some of you may choose the same company.
Although I would encourage you to discuss the project both
inside and outside the class and share some ideas, the final work
you submit must be your own.
Final Report Structure

The final term paper requires a specific structure and format.
You might think that this is restrictive. In a real business
environment, you will often be faced with situations where you
need to produce a work product that adheres to specific
requirements. Get used to it! Express your creative energy in
the content and quality of your thought process, critical
thinking, research strategy and solutions. Plus, a fixed format
helps me to grade consistently. The final paper should describe
the problem you have addressed, the solution you propose, and
the outcomes the organization can expect in implementing your
solution. The template provided on D2L clearly shows the
format required for the paper. Look that over early in the term.
Write the paper as if I am the audience. I will read and grade
the paper with these questions in mind:
1.) Is the problem you describe actually a problem, is it
supported by data that you have collected, and is it important to
the organization?
2.) Have you exhaustively generated a creative set of possible
solutions?
3.)Will the solution you propose effectively address the
problem, and have you chosen that solution using effective and
proven decision-making techniques?
4.)Have you made a convincing, evidence-based argument for
you choice?
5.)Will an allocation of corporate resources achieve the benefits
you describe?
In addition, I have provided a copy of my grading rubric so you
can see the key areas where you can earn………. or lose …..
points.
Your report should convince the decision-maker that the
solution you recommend can improve the firm’s multiple bottom

line (we’ll discuss this in class if you’re not familiar with the
phrase) and is worth pursuing.
Formatting
The PSU writing center offers in-person and on-line support for
student research projects. Their web site is:
www.writingcenter.pdx.edu. Please take advantage of these
resources.
Your final report should be very carefully organized and
formatted – using the guideline found in the template on D2L. I
strongly recommend the use of subheadings and highlighting
(italics, boldface etc.) as necessary to guide the reader through
your work. Long-winded paragraphs that cover multiple topics
or ramble tend to score very poorly. Use bullet points and
numbering to draw attention to lists of important items. Make
sure that your formatting style, organizational approach, and
level of detail are consistent throughout the report. Use a formal
tone appropriate for business documents. Be consistent with
use of tense and person. When presenting numerical data, use
appropriate guidelines to present your data effectively. Use 12-
point Times New Roman for body copy, and 14-point Arial Bold
for major headings (see the template on the course website).
As for length, the term paper should be at least ten (10) pages
long, not counting the Table of Contents, the bibliography page,
and any appendices, and no longer than 25 pages. And, if you
fill the paper with charts and diagrams, make sure you have ten
pages of text. Use the font guidelines listed above, and make
sure it’s double-spaced and one-sided. I know that it seems like
a waste of paper, but single-sided is much easier to grade if I’m
reading many papers at the end of the term. And you don’t want
me to be cranky when I’m reading your paper.
You are expected to follow MLA style guidelines for all

citations in the text and on your bibliography page. Be
particularly careful when citing materials collected through PSU
Library online databases, such as EBSCO Host. The MLA has a
web site but does not publish its guidelines there. However,
there are many other sources for citation examples, such as:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/library/researchguides.html.
You can also find printed MLA style guidelines in the library
and at the writing center.
Final Thoughts
The term paper is 35 percent of your final grade. It’s not
possible to get an A in this class if you don’t do well on this
project. Further, you MUST pass the term paper in order to pass
the course regardless of how well you have done on the other
phases of the course. Start early, particularly the background
research and problem definition. Outline your thoughts and
update the outline as we cover the problem-solving framework
in class. As mentioned on the first page, the problem definition
is critical, so make sure you spend some time on it. Trust me, it
will help the rest of the paper go more smoothly.
Lastly, good research is the backbone of the paper. And, as I
will repeat in class, this means more than just a Google search.
Google is a terrific resource, but the PSU Library website is a
better one. Experts claim that Google and other common search
engines only give you access to less than 1 percent of the data
on the Internet. The rest of the information is in the “deep”
Web. Corporate and other private databases make up much of
this data, and the PSU Library will give you access to some of
this.

3
Rev Aug 2014
Tool Post
Create parts and assembly of the Tool Post shown in the figure.
Remember to profile and
constrain (add dimension) your sketch for each model. Use
appropriate solid modeling techniques
and 3-D constraints as necessary.
-end and isometric views
for each part model.
Dimension the orthographic views appropriately.
-end and isometric views
for the assembly. Obtain a full
sectional front view of the assembly.
for the assembly.
Create a folder with your Project name under the Group Name
and save your Inventor files
such as idw, ipt, iam, ipn and avi to your folder depending on
the project requirements.
Your group will show the presentation file in the class. All files
related to the project must be in

the project name folder and turned in to the professor by the due
date of the project.
Portland State University
School of Business Administration
BA 301: Research and Analysis of Business Problems
BA 301 Term Paper – Common Errors
Past experience has shown that there a number of common
errors / shortcomings on the term papers. I encourage you to
review these issues carefully and keep them in mind when you
perform your research and write your paper.
A Business Document
This is a business document and should be written in a fairly
formal fashion. The use of phrases such as “I think” and “I will
show that” and “Next we should look at” is both unnecessary
and inappropriate. Write with confidence and don’t waste
words with phrases like this. Similarly, don’t waste time and
space telling me things like “It is important to consider
stakeholders.” and “A decision matrix is a useful tool to help
evaluate alternatives.” and “It is important to prioritize the
company’s problems.” Use the tools we developed during the

term and demonstrate that you have mastered these concepts by
applying them to the business situation and problems you are
analyzing instead of using statements like this to convince me
that you understand the concepts.
A Good Problem Statement
It is almost impossible to write a good paper if you don’t write
a strong problem statement since about 80% of the paper is
driven by the problem you identify. If your problem statement
isn’t good, it’s almost impossible to analyze and communicate
how potential solutions would solve the problem, which
solution is best suited to the problem, and to build the business
case for your recommended solution.
This is one of the most important determinants of whether your
paper will be an “A” or “B” or something less. We will spend
10 weeks working on problem statements and when you write
yours, make sure that you (1) describe the gap between the
current performance and the desired performance or a similar
shortcoming and (2) don’t include a presumed solution as your
problem. “ABC Company needs to change xxxxxxx ” IS NOT a
problem statement; it is a predetermined recommended action
related to some perceived unstated problem.
Besides describing the performance gap, make sure you clearly
describe the alternative solutions you identify and how each of
those would or would not solve the problem and eliminate or
reduce the performance gap.
Plan Ahead
Recognize that your paper and the group project all come due in
the last few weeks of the term. If you let everything go, you
won’t be able to do a good job on everything you have to do at
once. Plan ahead.
Plan Ahead 2 - Start Your Paper Early

It is very easy to tell whether the work on a paper was started
early (i.e. 6 weeks or so before the paper was due) or whether it
was started in the last week or so. Those students who start
early consistently do a better job of applying the tools we
discuss early in the course since those are still fresh in their
minds. More importantly, those who start at least a month
before the paper is due prepare better papers virtually every
time.
Besides starting early, work on your paper a little every week as
we progress through the course and introduce new tools. Most
papers I’ve seen start off very good with strong discussions of
Position and Sense. However, many of those papers fall down
when the later sections are not complete or where the author
just “ran out of gas.” By the last few sections of the paper (the
Build and Achieve sections) many papers that started off as an
“A” have dropped to a “B” or even lower.
The Paper is an Analysis, Not a Report
This paper is an analysis of an existing problem, the solutions
which should be considered, and your recommendation for
which solution the company should pursue, and WHY. The
paper isn’t a report in which you describe what the company did
and how it worked out.
Communicate Clearly
In order for you to get a good grade on the paper, I must be able
to understand what you are saying and it is imperative that I be
able to follow the logic of your analysis and recommendations.
I have seen many papers which included excellent research and
the author appeared to really have a solid grasp of the issues
but, the paper included very long, rambling sentences and
paragraphs which included numerous different thoughts. As a
result, it was almost impossible to follow the logic and analysis
of the author.

Writing isn’t a skill that’s important just for students; it’s a
skill that is critical for success in business. Rest assured that,
even if you have the greatest business ideas in the world, if
your boss can’t read your reports and follow the logic of your
recommendations, your future success is limited.
So, how can you make sure you communicate clearly? Here are
a handful of suggestions (in no particular order)…..
(1) When your paper is substantially complete, get someone
else to read your paper carefully and explain it back to you. If
they can’t tell you the main problem and the alternatives and the
recommended solution and why it’s the best solution and how it
should be implemented, then it’s unlikely that I will be able to
ferret this out of your paper either.
(2) Don’t write long sentences and paragraphs that include too
many different thoughts. Keep them short and then use
transitions between thoughts to reinforce your points.
(3) Do use bolded or underlined subheadings to break up long
sections of material in which multiple thoughts are discussed.
For instance, instead of writing 3 or 4 pages telling about the
alternative solutions for a problem, try setting each alternative
up under a separate subheading with that subhead giving 4 or 5
words describing that alternative. Set separate thoughts apart
so that they don’t all flow together in the reader’s mind. I know
few of you will take the time to do a thorough outline but,
preparing an outline will help immensely in this regard.
(4) Consider whether graphics and similar information should
be incorporated into the body of your paper or included in the
appendices. Sometimes supporting information helps more by
including it later (and referring to it in the body with something
like “See Appendix A”) instead of inserting it in the body. Ask
yourself, does this information help explain my logic right here

or is it really more background information. I know this is a
fine line but, use appendices to include information without
breaking up the flow of your logical arguments and it will be
easier for the reader to follow what you are saying.
(5) Clean up typos, grammar, and awkward language. Instead
of writing your paper the day before it’s due (or the day it’s due
in some cases), try to finish a few days ahead of time and then
set it aside for a day or two to clear your mind. Then, go back
and read it with a fresh set of eyes and you’ll catch many of the
errors you will miss if you try to proof it when you’re tired or
have been working on it for a number of hours.
Make Sure You are Clear and Specific
There are some things that need to be written so clearly that
they almost jump off the page:
(1) What problems and issues does this company face? Which
are mission critical? Which are urgent?
(2) What is the main problem you are addressing? Why is this
one more critical than the others?
(3) What alternative solutions have you found that would solve
the problem or improve the situation? What are the relative
benefits and consequences of each?
(4) What solution do you recommend? Why do you recommend
this one?
The answers to these questions comprise a large part of this
paper. Make sure it’s easy for the reader to identify this
information.
Use the Tools We Developed During the Course
You don’t have to use everything we discuss during the course

but, I’m expecting to see at least a few. Think fishbone
diagrams, mind maps, weighted criteria decision matrices, lists
of pros and cons, Gantt and Pert charts, cost benefit analyses,
feasibility analyses, and the other tools we talked about. If you
don’t use some of these, you’re giving away points on the
paper.
Finish the Job
As I mentioned before, a lot of papers start off very strong and
then gradually each section gets shorter than the previous one
and lacks a thorough discussion and analysis. I’ve seen any
number of papers with a very thorough 4-page discussion of
Position and a very poor, one half page discussion of Build and
only a few sentences for Achieve at the end.
Among the reasons this happens sometimes is that students
don’t always realize that they need to change their mental
approach over the course of this paper. What I mean is that the
first couple of sections – Position and Sense – are in many ways
like a report where you write information and facts that you
have learned through your research. By Uncover, your mental
approach MUST start to change as you begin to analyze the
information more and understand and explain the cause and
effect relationships that are the drivers of the problems you’ve
found. This isn’t just reading your research notes and writing
them on your paper any more. The information is coming from
your analysis. By the Solve section, you should be applying
and writing about your understanding of the company, the
problem(s), the causes, and all the environmental factors and
determining what YOU believe to be the best solution and why.
When I asked one student why her paper was not really
complete and the last 2 sections were short and lacked the same
excellent quality that the start of her paper did, she told me that
by Build and Achieve she felt like she was “just making things
up.” In some ways this is true since you may not have

sufficient real life information in this academic project to do a
thorough cost benefit or feasibility analysis and you will
definitely need to create the information to prepare an
implementation plan for your recommended solution. I fully
understand that you may need to estimate or even just guess at
some costs and benefits and that much of the Achieve section is
your own creation. That’s okay – the only expectation I have is
that you develop the things you “make up” using some solid
logic and critical thinking.
Citations
It is great if you include charts and graphs and tables of
information from your research if they are applicable and help
describe the company and the issues. Make sure that you
provide your source for these just as you would cite sources in
the text of your paper.
Also, spend some time checking on MLA requirements and
make sure that your citations and bibliography meet those
requirements. I’m not going to be upset if you have a very
unusual type of source and it doesn’t quite fit MLA guidelines
but, most of your reference sources will have a very well
documented format for preparing the citations.
This is Business 101
Finally, understand that the ability to think logically in
analyzing business situations and write clearly is fundamental
to all careers as a professional in business.

Your Name (14 pt Times New Roman)
BA 301 Final Term Paper
Section Number (e.g., Section 002)
Date
Table of Contents
Executive Summary3
Situation Analysis5
Problem Analysis & Description6
Solution
s, Evaluation & Recommendation8
Implementation Plan9
Success Metrics10
Bibliography12
Appendicies
Appendix A Industry Size and Market Share
…………………………………………………………15

Appendix B SWOT Analysis
…………………………………………………………………………
.16
Appendix C Fishbone Diagram
………………………………………………………………………..1
7
Appendix D Weighted Decision Matrix
……………………………………………………………….18
Appendix E Implementation Timeline
……………………………………………………...…………20
Executive Summary (this should be in 14 pt Bold Arial)
This is the first paragraph of your executive summary. It
should be indented, it should be double-spaced, and it should be
in 12 pt Times New Roman font (as should the rest of the body
of your term paper). An executive summary should be no
longer than two pages (and preferably shorter), and should be
written after your paper has been completed. It is a complete
summary of your recommendations, and the reader should get a
clear picture from this section alone. Assume that the reader

reads nothing else. The rest of this is just filler text. Lorem
ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam et ante
non nisi gravida hendrerit. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam lacinia
purus ac sem. Vestibulum lectus justo, cursus ac, dictum et,
vehicula ut, augue. Aenean metus diam, suscipit sit amet,
vestibulum nec, congue vel, augue. Mauris nonummy purus sit
amet elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
elit. Aenean egestas condimentum risus. Integer nec dui. Etiam
eu lectus. Morbi vel elit non erat auctor convallis. Praesent
tempus varius neque. Sed enim ligula, tincidunt auctor, pharetra
ac, convallis non, orci. Suspendisse potenti. Cras erat. In
ultricies consequat lacus. Aenean ipsum tortor, dignissim eget,
pretium id, ultricies non, lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad
litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos.
Curabitur aliquet. Vestibulum nec quam.
Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes,
nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec semper, risus ut consequat
egestas, sapien sem sodales augue, in blandit magna massa vel
tortor. Aliquam erat volutpat. Pellentesque quis nisi eget urna
condimentum egestas. Vestibulum justo lacus, varius sed,
placerat vitae, placerat quis, pede. Praesent molestie interdum
pede. Fusce semper posuere lectus. Nam vel metus nec risus
accumsan semper. Curabitur a nibh. Cras quam. Morbi eu ante
tincidunt lectus lacinia bibendum. Nullam justo ipsum,
fermentum vitae, semper vel, blandit ut, quam. Fusce mauris

mauris, venenatis pretium, interdum eu, imperdiet sed, elit.
Phasellus hendrerit. Phasellus blandit volutpat felis. Donec sit
amet nulla at erat ullamcorper volutpat. Suspendisse massa
lacus, egestas vitae, ullamcorper sed, luctus id, est. Maecenas
blandit, neque in varius varius, purus dui tempus dolor, nec
elementum sem dui egestas tortor. Sed pretium ultricies nibh.
Sed elementum. Donec tincidunt convallis leo. Morbi nec tellus.
Phasellus elementum tincidunt tortor. Nulla facilisi. Nunc
tempus mattis pede. Cras pretium interdum nulla. Mauris
commodo aliquet erat. Integer pellentesque orci non nisi. In
arcu. In mattis. Integer scelerisque orci at mi. Vivamus magna
dui, accumsan non, suscipit et, consequat et, nisi. Curabitur
iaculis. Morbi imperdiet rutrum turpis. Duis pharetra sem non
lorem. Aenean lectus neque, adipiscing et, lacinia non, porttitor
in, ante.
Situation Analysis
This section explores the context and background of the
problem solving situation for your chosen company, and it
should start on a new page after the Executive Summary. This
is the only section that starts on a new page! This is where you
attempt to understand the organization’s goals, mission/vision
and key stakeholders, and it will guide the rest of your problem-
solving activity. This is where you might include key historical

financial information and a SWOT analysis. Create relevant
charts and graphs that will give the reader a concise, yet
complete, picture of what happening with the company at this
point in time. This section should leverage from Homework
Assignment #1, and might even be an edited and revised version
of that assignment.
This section should be at least a page or two and could be
longer. The rest of this text is just filler and does not reflect
actual length. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit. Nam et ante non nisi gravida hendrerit.
Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam lacinia purus ac sem. Vestibulum
lectus justo, cursus ac, dictum et, vehicula ut, augue. Aenean
metus diam, suscipit sit amet, vestibulum nec, congue vel,
augue. Mauris nonummy purus sit amet elit. Lorem ipsum dolor
sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean egestas
condimentum risus. Integer nec dui. Etiam eu lectus. Morbi vel
elit non erat auctor convallis. Praesent tempus varius neque. Sed
enim ligula, tincidunt auctor, pharetra ac, convallis non, orci.
Suspendisse potenti. Cras erat. In ultricies consequat lacus.
Aenean ipsum tortor, dignissim eget, pretium id, ultricies non,
lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per
conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Curabitur aliquet.
Vestibulum nec quam.

Problem Analysis & Description
Use this section to explore the critical issues facing the
organization and ultimately define and describe a problem that
will be your focus for the remainder of the paper. In other
words, you will solve the problem identified and described in
this section in the following sections of the paper. Gather
additional data, analyze that data, identify key symptoms,
prioritize these symptoms and find connections and
relationships between them, if any. Symptoms are the
indicators of the ultimate problem. They are the "gaps" talked
about in class. Provide a clear, focused problem description by

the end of the section. Be specific. Include numbers, if you
can. Back it up with data gathered during your research. Use
some root cause analysis to ensure that you aren’t mistaking
symptoms for causes. Refer back to the Situation Analysis
section and note any new stakeholders and any conflicts with
the corporation’s mission and vision. As I finish reading this
section, I should have a clear idea of the problem you are
solving throughout the rest of the paper. If there is no single
cause for your problem, list the range of possible causes. Use
the next section of the paper to refine the problem in order to
generate solutions.
The rest of this text is just filler and does not reflect actual
length. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
elit. Nam et ante non nisi gravida hendrerit. Suspendisse
potenti. Aliquam lacinia purus ac sem. Vestibulum lectus justo,
cursus ac, dictum et, vehicula ut, augue. Aenean metus diam,
suscipit sit amet, vestibulum nec, congue vel, augue. Mauris
nonummy purus sit amet elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean egestas condimentum risus.
Integer nec dui. Etiam eu lectus. Morbi vel elit non erat auctor
convallis. Praesent tempus varius neque. Sed enim ligula,
tincidunt auctor, pharetra ac, convallis non, orci. Suspendisse
potenti. Cras erat. In ultricies consequat lacus. Aenean ipsum
tortor, dignissim eget, pretium id, ultricies non, lectus. Class
aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per

inceptos hymenaeos. Curabitur aliquet. Vestibulum nec quam.
Maecenas blandit, neque in varius varius, purus dui tempus
dolor, nec elementum sem dui egestas tortor. Sed pretium
ultricies nibh.

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