You will be building up a formal, researched justification report (one part at a time) that culminates in a recommendation to implement a particular product, service, or program in your place of employment. This recommended product, service, or program should resolve a problem that you identify in your workplace and should be directed to your employer (even if you do not actually plan to share it with your employer).
Use the basic outline below to draft Assignment 2. Organize your responses to each question under the following section headings:
• Problem Statement (for Question 1)
• Overview of Alternatives (for Question 2)
• Criteria (for Question 3)
• Methods (for Question 4)
Using the provided template, write Part 1 of a single-spaced report in which you:
1. Discuss in detail a problem at work, persuading and convincing the reader that it needs fixing.
2. Provide a detailed description of two (2) possible solutions ("alternatives") that could be implemented to resolve the problem identified in Question 1.
3. List and detail five (5) criteria that you will use to measure the worth of each alternative in Question 2. Note: The alternative that satisfies the most criteria to the highest degree will be the one you recommend later to your employer (in Assignment 2.3). Criteria are standards that the audience values and are therefore used to measure the worth of each alternative (common examples include cost, desirability, durability, efficiency, time it will take to implement, and practicality).
4. Describe in detail how you will conduct the research needed to determine the best alternative to recommend to your employer. Note: This is a one to two (1-2) paragraph description of what research needs to be completed in order to evaluate the alternatives. This is not a detailed procedure for solving the problem.
Write Part 2 of a single-spaced report in which you:
1. Include and revise the sections from Assignment 2.1 (Problem Statement, Overview of Alternatives, Criteria, and Methods) per instructor suggestions.
2. Research the two (2) alternatives (i.e. possible solutions) that you've identified in your Part 1 Evaluation of Alternatives section. Record bibliographic information during research.
a. Example: You might research other organizations that have attempted similar solutions to the problem you have identified and explore the results of those experiments.
3. Use what you discover in your research to evaluate each alternative by each of your five (5) criteria.
a. Example: If your research revealed that four (4) companies similar to yours increased productivity after allowing their workers to telework from home three days per week, you might conclude that one of your suggested alternatives - in this case, the option to telework from home three days per week - satisfies one of your criterion of "Productivity" as a high-potential solution to a problem you've identified (of decreased worker morale and productivity at Doe's Electronics). However, additional research might frustrate a recommendation of this alternative if it is found to fall short of other criteria while a second alternative fares better. For instance, a telework alternative might be found to be too costly to implement; too frustrating for consumers who prefer daily, in-person customer service; or too divergent from the company's brand, "Always there for you!"
4. Organize the assignment by your criteria. Explain in narrative form how each of your two (2) alternatives stacks up against your first criterion. Next, explain how each alternative stacks up against your second criterion, etc.
a. Example: An abbreviated outline of what this longer section might look like based on the above example is below (Note: Only the first two [2] of five [5] required criteria are included to give you a feel for the structure). Your researched findings, represented as circled bullets below, should be explained in two to five (2-5) sentences. Include in-text citations and follow up with References in APA style):