Application of the Fundamental Principles of Management: SAS

Final Project One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a decision-making and principles of management paper.
As you continue on your path to earn a degree in business administration, you will deepen your understanding of how effective management is a crucial aspect of overall business success, especially in today’s complex business world. As business and society continue to evolve, there will continue to be a demand for managers who are able to organize their resources and strategically implement the functions of management to achieve the goals of an organization.
The final paper for the course is divided into two parts: Final Project One and Final Project Two. Both parts of the assessment will focus on decision making and the fundamental principles of management.
In Final Project One, with the help of your instructor, you will select a successful company from the list provided. You will analyze the company’s best practices and effective implementation of the fundamental principles of management. Final Project One is divided into two milestones which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Module Two and Module Three. Final Project One will be submitted in Module Five.
In Final Project Two, with the help of your instructor, you will select a struggling company from the list provided in the Final Project Two Document. You will analyze the company’s ineffective implementation of the fundamental principles of management. Once you analyze the struggling company, your task will be to make recommendations for a management improvement plan explaining how the company’s management team can improve in areas such as decision making, employee performance, and sustainability. Final Project Two consists of one milestone, which will be submitted to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. The milestone will be submitted in Module Six. Final Project Two will be submitted in Module Eight.
In Final Project One, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Analyze how an organization’s goals influence organizational planning that informs strategic decision making
Analyze the functions of management and ethical principles for executing effective decision making in organizations
Apply management techniques that ensure the continuous improvement of personnel and business processes to measure organizational performance
Apply communication techniques aimed at increasing employee performance, thus achieving organizational goals and objectives
Illustrate the important connection between management and organizational culture
Prompt
Your employer recently conducted an employee survey and the greatest area of concern was related to management. The survey revealed that many employees are not satisfied with management’s performance, and the employees feel like the company’s poor performance is directly related to a lack of effective management. The general manager has learned that you are currently pursuing a business degree and would like you to champion a team to help improve management’s effectiveness. The general manager would first like to understand some best management practices from successful companies.
For the first part of the final project, you will identify a successful company. You must select a company from the list of suggested companies below. Resources related specifically to the successful companies listed are provided.
SAS
SAS.com
SAS: A New No. 1 Best Employer
How SAS Became the World’s Best Place to Work
An Interview With the Godfather of Data Analytics, SAS’s Jim Goodnight
Google
Google.com
How Google Motivates Their Employees With Rewards and Perks
Lessons From Google’s Management Style
Google’s Management Style Grows Up
Google’s Greatest Innovation May Be Its Management Practice
Zappos
Zappos.com
No Managers Required: How Zappos Ditched the Old Corporate Structure for Something New
Zappos: A Workplace Where No One And Everyone Is The Boss
Zappos Company Culture (5:41)
The captioned version of the video located in this document may be accessed in the following link: OL-215 Zappos Company Culture (CC)
Southwest Airlines
SouthwestAirlines.com
Southwest Airlines Opens for Business Customers
Effective Management at Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines: Strategy Genius or Common Sense? (8:32)
The captioned version of the video located in this document may be accessed in the following link: OL-215 Southwest Airlines: Strategy Genius or Common Sense? (CC)
Apple
Apple.com
Apple Management Lessons Every Company Should Steal
8 Management Lessons I Learned Working at Apple
Steve Jobs Talks About Managing People (2:26)
The captioned version of the video located in this document may be accessed in the following link: OL-215 Steve Jobs Talks About Managing People (CC)
Once you have selected a successful company, you will then analyze its application of the fundamental principles of management.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Introduction. Provide a brief overview of the successful company that you have chosen to benchmark for management best practices. Consider including specific examples relating to the fundamental principles of management and the company’s mission and vision statement.
Profile of a Successful Company
Explain how the company has communicated its mission and vision within the organization. In other words, explain how the company demonstrates the importance of the mission and vision to employees and other stakeholders.
Identify the role management played in helping this company execute its strategic management plan. Justify your response. You could consider including a specific example of a time when this management plan led the company to success.
Describe how management has helped to positively influence the organizational culture within this company. You could consider using some specific examples, actions, or strategies that show how management has positively influenced organizational culture.
Explain management’s pivotal role in the decision-making process within this company. Be sure to include specific decisions made by management based on principles of ethics. You could discuss specific decision-making models used by the company that may have helped the company be successful.
Evaluate how the use of the functions of management within this company has adhered to the principles of ethics. You could consider how using the functions of management while adhering to the principles of ethics may have impacted the employees of the company.
Explain how this company strategically uses human resources to develop its personnel. You could consider how this use of human resources has enhanced the company’s business processes.
Conclusion
Summarize how the company utilizes the fundamental principles of management to ensure optimal performance. You could consider the actions taken by this company if optimal performance is not met.
Analyze the decision-making strategies of the company for how they consider all the parts of the company as an interrelated system. You could consider how the decision-making strategies of the company align with a systems thinking approach.
Milestones
Milestone One: Introduction of a Successful Company
In Module Two, you will submit a one-page (maximum) document that will identify your chosen successful company from the suggested list. You are expected to provide a brief overview of the successful company that you have chosen to benchmark for management best practices. You should also include specific examples related to the fundamental principles of management and the company’s mission and vision statement. This milestone will be graded with the Final Project One Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Profile of a Successful Company
In Module Three, you will submit a one-to two-page document that will provide a profile of your chosen successful company. This milestone will serve as a rough draft and must cover the six critical elements described in Part II of Final Project One. You are expected to provide a minimum of two to three sentences for each of the six critical elements: mission and vision, strategic management plan, organizational culture, decision making, principle of ethics, and human resources. This milestone will be graded with the Final Project One Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Application of the Fundamental Principles of Management for a Successful Company
In Module Five, you will submit Final Project One. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This assignment will be graded using the Final Project One Rubric.
What to Submit
Final Project One must be three to four pages in length (plus a cover page and references) with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and APA formatting. Include at least two references cited in APA format.