Homework: Term Paper Outline Instructions
Overview:
You will download the Term Paper Template from the Term Paper folder under Course Materials. You will edit and customize the template to create your Term Paper Outline. You will then continue to edit this file every week, adding additional content to it as directed in the instructions for your weekly discussion board homework. The new content that you add each week will be posted to the discussion board for review.
General Instructions for working with the Term Paper Template:
o All words in brackets [ ] will eventually be deleted and replaced with your own words. Make sure you delete the brackets, too.
o The major section headings (which are all centered) should not be altered. These will be the same in everyone's term paper. However, you will customize the sub-headings according to your own content.
Specific Instructions for the Term Paper Outline:
o Customize the title page for your own paper. This includes editing the "Running Head" in the page header, the title of your paper, and your name.
o For each major section of the paper, you need to customize the sub-headings. You may add additional sub-headings, as needed, but each section must have a minimum of three sub-headings. Be sure to be descriptive in your sub-heading names, so that I know what content you intend to cover in each sub-heading.
o Add 1-3 sentences after each sub-heading, describing the specific content that you plan to cover in that section of your term paper.
o Write a 150-250 word abstract for your term paper (on p. 2 of the Term Paper Template). Once you have completed the above steps, you should have sufficient information on what you intend to cover in your paper to write your abstract.
o Write the introductory paragraphs of your term paper (on p. 3 of the Term Paper Template) underneath the title of your paper. The introductory paragraphs should be at least one page long. These paragraphs should provide the reader with an overview of the business you are creating, including your rationale and reasons for starting up that business.
o Copy your abstract, and your introductory paragraphs, to the discussion board for your instructor and peers to review. This will constitute your weekly discussion board homework.
Tips Regarding the Content of Each Section of the Term Paper:
o Overview and Structure of the Business -What is the mission of your organization? How is your organization structured? What are the job roles and responsibilities of the different parts/units or your organization and the different employees of your organization? How do the roles and responsibilities of each unit and/or employee fit together into the mission of your organization? Are there different levels of employees, such as managers and lower level workers who will have different information technology needs? I am looking for a big picture view of your organization in this section. Later in your term paper, you will discuss the information technology of your proposed business in more detail. But here I am just trying to get a big picture of your organization itself and how everybody fits together to fulfill the mission of the organization.The organizational overview section should describe the structure of the business that you are proposing, focusing on the different levels of employees in the organization (upper management, middle management, operational management, and lower level employees, such as production and service workers, and data workers) and their IT needs. Other topics to cover in this section could include a description of the main business processes in your business and the types of information systems and enterprise applications you will need to efficiently run the various business processes, and an analysis of your business against Porter's competitive forces model, along with a recommendation for an appropriate strategy for your organization to gain a competitive advantage.]
o Your Company's Infrastructure and Information Systems Needs - Topics to cover in this section include your plan for your company's IT infrastructure, use of telecommunications, networking and wireless technologies, use of functional information systems, such as production and operations, marketing and sales, accounting and finance, and human resource information systems, use of enterprise applications for supply chain management and customer relationship management, and an analysis of your company's internal operations against Porter's value chain model, with a recommendation for how IT can be used in your organization's value chain to increase your organization's efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness.
o Your Company's Management of Data and Knowledge - Topics to cover in this section include your organization's current use of data management systems), problems and difficulties faced by your organization in regards to data management , your organization's procedures for collecting, storing, managing, and updating data, and types of knowledge management systems currently used by your organization.
o Your Company's Use of the Internet - Topics to cover in this section include how your organization is affected by the digital economy and what issues they need to consider in regards to doing business in the digital economy, current messaging and collaboration software and Web 2.0 technologies in use by your organization and your company's use of e-commerce technologies.
o Your Company's IT Planning and Analysis Processes - Topics to cover in this section include your organization's IT strategy and planning process, your organization's use of management decision support and intelligent systems and your organization's IT security policy, acceptable use policy, business continuity plan, and disaster recovery plan (chapter 8). Be sure to also take ethical and social issues into consideration in relation to IT planning.
o Conclusion - In this section, you should summarize the key points you have made in your paper and bring your paper to a close. You may also want to mention any challenges you anticipate facing in implementing the plan you have laid out in this paper, as well as what steps you plan to take to overcome them.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.