Assignment:
Length: 3,500 words (excluding cover sheet and appendices)
Task: This research assignment is a case analysis and should consist of a written report of 3,500 words addressing the requirements, as outlined below.
Requirements: Your text contains a case study on the Chrysler Company and NASA. You are required to focus only on the NASA Challenger Disaster and disregard the Chrysler Company section.
You are then required to research the Challenger Disaster and also the subsequent Columbia Disaster (not in the case study).
Students are required to critically analyse both disasters and the decisions NASA made and
1. Compare and contrast the two disasters
2. Identify how the decision-making process contributed to the failure of both missions
3. Determine what lessons NASA had or had not learned from the Challenger Disaster; changes they had implemented prior to the Columbia Disaster and discuss the appropriateness of those decisions.
4. Use the determining factors in the Trull and Bay Area studies to make your own assessments of strategic decision failure for the two disasters
5. Recommend what management at NASA should do subsequent to the Columbia Disaster in order to achieve strategic decision success in the future.
Preparation: A sound understanding of all chapters of the text will provide the foundation for this assignment. Students are to base their analysis on the concepts, theories and frameworks studied throughout this unit.
Students are to make use of a wide range of scholarly resources to support their discussion and recommendations and reinforce or support an argument.
Presentation:
Assignments are to be typed, 1.5 lines spacing, and 12-point font. An Assignment Cover Sheet must be attached and can be downloaded from Learnline, under Assessments Area.
Students are to use the CDU Harvard referencing system,
In-text citations are included in the word limit. The reference list is not included in the word limit.
Assessment criteria:
Written Presentation:
Report format used, neatness, layout, correct spelling and punctuation, grammar, consistency of formatting and font size, and readability.
Integrated Discussion of Topic
Students clearly demonstrate a good understanding of the topic based in relevant decision-making theory and present their ideas/views in a balanced, supported manner with a well-integrated and complex style.
Research and Referencing
Good research skills demonstrated through the use of peer reviewed journal articles or appropriate reference articles/texts considered of high academic standard.
Correct referencing in-text and in the reference list.