Question: Second Headquarters for Mega Tech
Mega Tech, the company where you work, has become enormously successful and wants to expand its headquarters to a second location. As a research assistant to the VP, Ms. Giga Byte, you are tasked with conducting research (investigating) where the second headquarters will be.
Background: Amazon, headquartered In Seattle, is expanding and looking for a second location. Below are some of the criteria Amazon considers crucial in selection of a new location.
Amazon has narrowed its search to 20 cities. Cities as defined by Amazon are urban areas, so Miami includes Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. All 20 of the cities have over 1 million people.
Below are just some of the criteria Amazon is using, and Ms. Byte wants you to use four of the same criteria. She also wants you to pick from the 20 Amazon finalists.
• Hi-tech capabilities/technology oriented
• Diverse population
• Highly educated and skilled workforce
• International airport within 45- minute commute from downtown
• Access to mass transit
• Quality institutions of higher education and research
• Good schools
• Good quality of life (dining, culture, health care, parks & recreation, bike paths etc.)
• Traffic congestion
• Housing prices
Procedure:
Step 1: Pick four attributes from Amazon's criteria. Assign an importance weight to each of the four you select, totaling 100%.
Begin a weighted decision m ix. See p. 479 for an example. For a complete discussion of decision matrices, see pp. 437-442.
Note: At this stage, you can maket e horizontal axis only, as you do not have the information for the vertical axis.
Step 2: Research potential cities within the continental U.S. for Mega Tech. Decide on three cities that meet-- to some degree--your criteria. Probably, no one city will be perfect, but you are going recommend the best.
Step 3: Write 200-300 words for each of the three cities. Describe each in terms of the criteria its meets and to what degree.
Step 4: Enter your three cities into the vertical axis on the decision matrix you started in Step 1. Rank each city 1-3 with 3 being the highest. Now, do the math for your total column.
The city with the highest score becomes your recommendation to Ms. Giga Byte.
Step 5: Create an infographic depicting the relevant information about the city you choos- p.417
Step 6: Write your recommendation report. Include the decision matrix and the infographic as well as any other visuals you deem essential.
Writing Your Report: Prepare a recommendation report (see Ch. 12) In memo format addressed Ms. Giga Byte. She will take your recommendation report to the president of Mega Tech.
See pp. 221 for memo format, but note: the example in the text puts the headings flush left. Center your headings as per APA format. If you use sub-headings, put them flush left.
Use first person singular.
Create a letterhead and logo for Mega Tech with complete contact information. Make sure you use the word "Memorandum" on the first page.
For subsequent pages, no letterhead, but use page identifiers in the following format in the upper left corner.
Structure of the Report: Follow the advice given on p. 447; you will be using the indirect strategy, analytical report. You need to follow the organization given in the text. Include your concerns or possible objections the board of directors may have to your recommendation.
Your report will be structured like this.
(I) Introduction/problem (purpose);
(II/III) Facts/findings and Discussion/analysis (your discussion of the three cities including why you eliminated two) and your matrix.
Note: I have combined sections (II) and (III) from the text; you should too.
(IV) Recommendation (your one city recommendation and reason(s) why; brief discussion of concern(s) or possible objection(s) that the board of directors might have to your recommendation; your infographic of the city and any other appropriate visuals. Section four is your conclusion.
The report should be complete, but concise- 1000-1500 words, one and a half spaces (the default setting in Word), and have at least ten references. Although APA requires Times. New Roman, I suggest using Calibri or Cambria as either of them is more modern looking.
Within the report, insert proper in-text citations (no standalone URL links) for facts, illustrations, or ideas taken from any sources. These in-text citations will correspond to the APA reference list at the end of your report.
Your discussion of the three cities will have in-text citations for the facts you present. These in-text citations will become part of the ten references you need.
Use high impact format (headings, bullets, etc.) to help organize your report.