A team of two to three students is assigned to create a new product and develop a comprehensive business plan, suitable for presentation to the class or to an outside group of consultants or other interested parties, for its production and distribution.

Guidelines for Report Preparation

General Format

1. The report must be typed, double-spaced.
2. Report covers are a choice of the group, but must allow the report to lie flat when open.
3. Use subheadings within the report when appropriate.
4. A table of contents page is necessary.
5. Plan the report carefully to develop an organized and non-redundant report. It should be organized and assembled as a continuous report and should not appear to be several independent segments bound together.

Tentative Outline of the Report

1. Executive abstract. The report must begin with a one- to two-page abstract that orients the reader as to the contents as well as to the major sections of the report. The abstract, by itself, must provide enough information about the project so that the reader can judge simply by reading this portion if he or she wants to read further.
2. Introduction. This first segment should present a brief history of the organization and its local operations. Be brief and succinct, but make sure that the reader can obtain a perspective of the organization.
3. Environmental background. In this section, discuss the following two aspects. First, briefly outline the nature of the organization's external environment, examining the critical factors influencing its operations and policies as well as its overall operations strategy. Second, in more detail, examine the firm's internal environment. This involves consideration of customers, suppliers, distributors, and competitors that comprise the industry. Your analysis should focus on how the microenvironment affects the tactical and operational decisions made by the organization. To complete this section of the report, you will need to do some library research, as well as have several meetings with the organizational representative(s).
4. Organizational analysis. This part of the report should focus on Activities 1 and 2 as outlined in the description of the term project. In particular, be specific when writing this section. Do not make open-ended statements.
5. Problem identification and solution. In this segment of the report, each team should focus on Activity 3 in the description of the term project. When identifying a problem, be specific, and make sure the problem relates to the activities that you are to study. Further, when developing a solution(s), do not be open-ended. If you are recommending changes in the current method(s), you need to estimate the costs, if any, of such changes. As before, be thorough about solutions that are proposed; that is, make sure that you consider all aspects of the problem.
6. Summary. In two to three pages, you must summarize your project, including what you did, how you did it, the major problems, and the solutions proposed.
7. Exhibits, tables, and figures. All calculations, figures, and other graphical or numerical information should be summarized in this section. Additionally, any appendix, exhibit, table, and/or figure attached to the report must be typed and referred to in the report.