[SOLVED] Building a Business Case, management homework help – Business Finance

In this Assignment, you will begin to develop your Final Project by writing the first draft of your business case vignette. To successfully complete this Assignment, execute the following requirements:Read Unit 2 in the Internship Handbook to familiarize yourself with the intricacies of writing a business case vignette about your internship organization.Write a 1,200 word business case vignette using the storytelling techniques you learned (not including a title and reference page) in the Unit 2 section of theInternship Handbook .Use a minimum of three (3) peer-reviewed references to connect practice to theoryWrite in third person, and remember, the business case vignette is a story about the organization it is not about you! You are the narrator of this story.Apply proper APA style referencing structure.Use the Grading Rubric under Course Home for this Assignment to ensure your success.Please sites all references.MT490: INTERNSHIP HANDBOOK
Table of Contents: Click a link to navigate the Internship Handbook)
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Introduction
The Purpose of Experiential Learning
Final Project Overview
Unit 1: Getting Started
Unit 2: Building a Business Case
Unit 3: Identifying Problems & Opportunities
Unit 4: Examining the Business Dilemma
Unit 5: Writing Management Research Questions
Unit 6: Building the Literature Review: Outcomes 1, 2, & 3
Unit 7: Building the Literature Review: Outcomes 4, 5, & 6
Unit 8: Strategy & Action Plan: Outcome 1, 2, & 3
Unit 9: Strategy & Action Plan: Outcome 4, 5, & 6
Unit 10: Executive Summary & Testimony
Quick Reference
● Writing an outline
● Professional Oral Presentation
● Visual Presentation
● Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations
● Inductive Reasoning techniques
● How to read a grading rubric
● How to read an assessment rubric
● How to write an Annotated Bibliography
● Example Annotated Bibliography
● What you need to know about Plagiarism
Continuous Professional Development
Experiential Learning Reference Library
Glossary
References
INTRODUCTION
You are reading this handbook because you are registered for the MT490: Internship course. By
this time in your academic journey, you have taken and passed the majority of required core and elective
courses in your degree plan. All that you have learned throughout your academic journey has prepared
you to thrive in the professional business environment. Here, in this course, is where you will be
required to demonstrate the professional competencies you have developed in a reality based work
setting. This handbook has been designed by the faculty and administration of Kaplan University, in
conjunction with business and industry partners, to help guide your experiential learning journey
throughout this course.
What is your role as an experiential learner? Your role is to actualize what you know, what you think
you know, and to realize what you still need to learn; which is entirely different from the traditional
classroom experience where students are dictated what they should know, and how to learn it. The
experiential learner uses current knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors and applies them in specific
practical situations to solve problems and/or to capitalize on opportunities. Experiential learners use
field research abilities to analyze and evaluate the organization from varying perspectives (like the
course outcome topics). Experiential learners behave as leaders to positively effect change and add value
to the organizational culture via contributions and collaborative efforts. Experiential learners practice
professional competencies in real-time, becoming the 21st Century professionals employers need and
desire. Experiential learners develop professional competencies that enable entrepreneurship!
Experiential learners develop strong professional communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and
research abilities. As a student intern, you will soon realize the value of this engaging teaching/learning
paradigm called experiential learning.
THE PURPOSE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning theory is defined by Kolb (1984) as “the process whereby knowledge is
created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results for the combination of grasping
and transforming experience” (p. 41). A student intern engages in experiential learning by doing, which
occurs through experience, observation, and taking action during discovery and exploration based
activities that require knowledge of topics related to a reality based setting. Students that engage in
experiential learning are able to apply important 21st century professional competencies desired by
employers in the career marketplace. During the experiential learning process, business student interns
are required to apply and hone professional knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors learned
throughout their professional and academic career. You will find a thorough definition of experiential
learning in the glossary.
Have you ever learned about a theory or concept in an academic course and wonder how it applies in
the real world?
Throughout the traditional higher education learning process, students acquire knowledge, skills,
abilities, and behaviors related to many new theories and concepts in the academic setting. When
executing assignments, students are told what chapters to read in a book and what topics to write about.
In experiential learning, students become interns working for an organization and the practical work
experience is spontaneous and uncontrolled. In other words, it is a real world setting and faculty has no
idea what the student intern will experience. Student interns will need to use recall and/or research
abilities to identify theories and concepts learned throughout their degree plan in order to apply and/or
evaluate how it applies in the real world business setting. It is not guaranteed that student interns will be
able to apply all theories and concepts learned throughout the degree plan that is of interest, but the
student intern will achieve the goal of experiential learning, which is to develop the ability to apply
theory to practice and practice to theory in their professional careers for the purpose of continuous
professional development.
Many students ask the question: Why is MT490: Internship a required course?
Of course there is great value in traditional teaching and learning methods in higher learning, but
without actualization of the theories and concepts in connection with real world experiences gained
through experiential learning, the learning process is incomplete. There is an anonymous old adage that
states: “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” Through experiential learning, students
demonstrate important professional competencies like critical thinking, decision making, research, analytics, emotional
intelligence, teamwork, leadership, and much, much more. Through the application and actualization of such
professional competencies, students build new understandings of the business world.
This reality of experiential learning is consistent with the infamous quote aptly offered by Confucius,
an honorable Chinese philosopher:
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand!
This internship course is comprised of both an academic and practical learning experience. However,
the majority of your grade is achieved on the academic side of the course. In this course, your goal is to
culminate the course outcomes through experiential learning. Your internship is not just about on-thejob training. It is not just about fulfilling daily tasks. Your internship is about learning through
experience. Be sure to spend 10 hours per week working on the practical side of your internship for your
internship employer. You should work 8 hours per week on the academic side of your internship to
culminate the course outcomes.
MT490: Internship Course Vision Statement
The Kaplan University Internship Program leads in establishing an academic culture of experiential
learning that fosters continuous improvement opportunities for students in the practice of business. In
the practice of business, student interns connect theory to practice and practice to theory to identify and
solve real world problems and opportunities related to the specified Bachelor’s level program outcomes.
Bachelor’s level program outcomes include:
MT490-1: Evaluate information management, planning, and control in business environments.
MT490-2: Analyze organizational processes and procedures in a variety of business settings.
MT490-3: Synthesize appropriate principles, concepts, and frameworks for making ethical decisions.
MT490-4: Assess the roles that structure, management, and leadership play in organizational
performance.
MT490-5: Evaluate how economics, government, and law affect value creation in the global context.
MT490-6: Evaluate career skills in the field of business and management
MT490: Internship Course Mission Statement
The mission of the Kaplan University Internship Program is to guide student interns in the actualization
of business and management theories and concepts learned throughout the Bachelor’s degree plan, in
connection with practical experiences within a reality based business setting.
FINAL PROJECT OVERVIEW
A business case is used by organizational stakeholders to present problems or opportunities to
organizational leadership in order to attain approval and/or funding to implement activities, initiatives ,
and projects aimed at solving the problems or capitalizing on the opportunities. Use of a business case is
standard practice in business and industry. A business case will present viable primary and secondary
data that is further developed into business intelligence. The business intelligence is presented in a
strategic context and is effectively and concisely summarized into conclusions, solutions, and
recommendations in the form of an implementation plan. Organizational leadership uses this business
intelligence to justify and decide on approaches to solving the problem or capitalizing on the
opportunity, carefully taking the action plan into consideration. The business case will clearly explain
the scope of the strategy and implementation plan by setting expectations, recommending a
measurement and monitoring plan to ensure effective and efficient management of the activities,
initiatives, and projects.
Learning how to develop a business case is an essential ability for the 21st Century business
professional. The business case developed throughout this course is based on your internship
organization and will result in final written and oral deliverables that are culminated in Unit 10 of the
course.
Final Project Timeline
Unit 1: Review professional writing guidelines and confirm ability to meet written
communication expectations.
Unit 2: Review Business Case Vignette instructions. Develop Business Case Vignette.
Unit 3: Discovery period. Explore practical work environment to identify problems and
opportunities.
Unit 4: Define the business case dilemma to identify root cause to problems and
opportunities.
Unit 5: Develop Management Research Questions based on business dilemma.
Unit 6: Develop Literature Review for course outcomes 1, 2, and 3 connecting practice to
theory to inductively build a background to substantiate the Management Research Questions.
Unit 7: Develop Literature Review for course outcomes 4, 5, and 6 connecting practice to
theory to inductively build a background to substantiate the Management Research Questions.
Unit 8: Design a strategy and action plan to solve problems and to capitalize on opportunities for Course
Outcomes 1, 2, and 3.
Unit 9: Design a strategy and action plan to solve problems and to capitalize on opportunities for Course
Outcomes 4, 5, and 6.
Unit 10: Finalize the business case vignette. Write the experiential learning testimony. Develop the
Executive Summary. Submit final written business case. Develop and conduct oral presentation
of Business Case.
Written Business Case Assignment
Your final written deliverable in this course is a Business Case that presents solutions to
problems and opportunities identified within your internship organization. Your focus will be on
identifying and evaluating problems and opportunities related to each of the topics within the course
outcomes. In the end, you will develop strategic and tactical plans with recommendations on
implementing your solutions to the problems and recommendations for capitalizing on the opportunities.
Scope of Work: Your business case is a professional document designed to persuade decision makers to
take evidence based action to solve problems or to capitalize on opportunities. The following criteria
explain the scope of work in your execution of this final assignment:
● Write a 20-page business case over the course of 10 weeks (not including title page, table of
contents, reference pages, or appendices).
● Revise the components of your business case using instructor feedback to improve quality in
your writing.
● Apply the appropriate persuasive, descriptive, and expository writing style techniques to
formulate your business case as indicated in the outline below.
● Build your business case using a professional documentation format
● Apply proper APA (6th edition) style referencing using intext citations and correct reference
structure.
● A minimum of 20 research resources must be used in your business case. Integrate a minimum of
12 Peer-Reviewed Journal Article References into the business case. Use of professional and
governmental websites is permitted above and beyond the required 12 Peer-Reviewed Journal
Articles.
● Thoroughly complete the business case using the following outline and framework:
Title Page: Professional design required. This is not an APA style formatted paper. It is a
professional document and desktop publishing skills are required to develop an attractive
business report title page and document format. Click here for an example title page format.
*** Note: Although APA style formatting is not required, it is pertinent to apply APA style
referencing to avoid plagiarism.
Testimony: In Unit 10, you will write a testimony about your experiential learning
journey. Whether it was full of positive or negative learning experiences, it is essential for
you to share your thoughts on experiential learning and the internship course. Use of
depictions such as diagrams, images, charts, and matrices is recommended. It is important to
explain any depictions included in your written work. This section is written descriptively.
This is the only section in the business case that can be written in first person.
Table of Contents: The table of contents outlines the major headings and subheadings throughout
the document.
Executive Summary: In Unit 10, you will write the Executive Summary. This section
should provide a synopsis of all essential elements of the business case being presented.
Summarize the vision of the strategy and implementation plan on solving problems and
capitalizing on opportunities. Use the abstract guidelines in the writing reference library to
guide the development of your abstract. Use the guidelines for using persuasive and
expository writing in this section. Your goal is to convince your reader that the solutions
proposed in your business case are viable and worthy of a positive judgment to implement.
Case Vignette: This section is where you tell the story of your internship organization
using time tested storytelling abilities to give your internship organization and identity and
to make the organization come alive in your writing. Use of depictions such as diagrams,
images, charts, and matrices is recommended. It is important to explain any depictions
included in your written work. This section is written persuasively using storytelling
techniques.
Business Dilemma: This section is where you provide background on the business issues
(problems & opportunities) related to the course outcome topics. This section describes the
purpose of the business case. Here, your goal is to identify the symptoms of issues that are
perceived as problems or opportunities for the organization. Ultimately, you want to get at
the root cause of these problems and opportunities to develop management research
questions in the next section. During this discovery process, you will synthesize practice
with theory to fully describe the nature of the business dilemma’s you discover. In this
section, include information related to the scope of the issues found during your problem
and/or opportunity discovery process. Develop a professional discussion using persuasive
and expository writing styles by providing perspectives on issues related to goals,
objectives, risks, benefits, advantages, features, disadvantages, project feasibility, technical
aspects, costs, planning, organizational change, project planning, quality management,
security, reliability of systems, strategy, tactics, disruptions, labor issues, training and
development, staffing issues, etc. These are just some general ideas for you to consider
exploring during your internship practice. Since we do not and will not control your
internship experience, it is up to you to identify the business dilemma’s the organization
faces with relation to the course outcome topics. Use of depictions such as diagrams,
images, charts, and matrices is recommended. It is important to explain any depictions
included in your written work.
Management Research Questions: Clearly formulate questions related to actions management might
take to solve the problems or to capitalize on opportunities related to the management
dilemma. Each course outcome must be addressed in your management research questions.
Since there are 6 course outcomes, you should have at minimum, 6 research questions based
on management dilemmas in relation to the course outcome topics. For example, Course
outcome 1 topics are about information management, planning and controls. You should
have at least one management research question addressing the overall topic of information
management, planning, and controls. You may have sub-questions that address each topic
individually to help organize and coordinate your research. Refer to the Unit 5 reading
material for guidance. Use persuasive and expository writing styles to develop this section.
Literature Review: The purpose of this section is to examine current and historically
significant research studies, company information, industry white papers, and other valid
data that provide substance and evidence to help draw conclusions that lead to the strategic
development of solutions to problems and/or methods for capitalizing on opportunities. The
literature review is the essence of connecting practice with theory, as discussed in the Unit 1
reading material. Use of depictions such as diagrams, images, charts, and matrices is
recommended. It is important to explain any depictions included in your written work. Use
persuasive and expository writing style techniques to develop this section.
Strategy Development: Evaluate and draw conclusions on the problems and/or
opportunities that you identified and fully researched from the inception of this business
case. Based on research, develop solutions to solve problems and/or be creative on how to
capitalize on opportunities. Create a vision and mission for your actions. State the objectives
of your solutions and justify how they meet the “SMART+C” criteria test. Develop and
propose alternative solutions and creative methods to the problems and/or opportunities.
Explain possible risks and barriers that pose a threat to the primary solution and explain how
to minimize the threats. Clearly explain the features and benefits of each solution presented
in the strategy. Use of depictions such as diagrams, images, charts, and matrices is
recommended. It is important to explain any depictions included in your written work. Use
persuasive and expository writing style techniques to develop this section.
Implementation Plan: Ever hear the old adage “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to
plan”? Planning a strategy is only the first step in curing root cause problems and/or
capitalizing on an opportunity with sustainability in mind. The next step is turning your
strategy into an action plan. This is all about turning a dream into reality. The purpose of the
action planning process is to ensure your proposed strategy is viable. It should explain how
each aspect of the strategy will be used to meet the stated objectives. Outline the action
steps that are needed to effect change to solve the problem and/or the steps needed to
capitalize on the opportunities. Use persuasive and expository writing style techniques to
develop this section.
References: Integrate a minimum of 12 peer-reviewed journal articles into your writing.
Use of professional and governmental websites is permitted above and beyond the required
12 Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles.
Appendices: An appendix is a section found at the end of the Business Case that is used
to warehouse additional information or bulky (highly detailed) informational sources that
may be of interest to your reader.
Oral Business Case Assignment
In Unit 10, you will make an oral presentation of your Business Case. Using the VoiceThread software,
you will narrate your oral presentation using the audio recording tool in the software. To complete this
oral presentation, develop PowerPoint presentation to address each of the following topics and upload it
to VoiceThread. Record your audio narration by presenting each slide:
●
●
●
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Business Case Vignette
Business Dilemma
Research Questions
Literature Review
Strategy to solve the 6 business dilemmas
Action Plan overview for each solution
Tips for success:
● Ensure your presentation is error free before you submit it to the Dropbox (no spelling and/or
grammar errors)
● Speak clearly and concisely in your recorded presentation
● Submit your recorder Presentation to the Unit 10: Final Presentation Dropbox.
UNIT 1: GETTING STARTED
Introduction
Welcome to the Academic side of your internship!
Throughout the next 10 weeks, you will have the opportunity to engage in an experiential learning
journey that requires you to practice theories and concepts previously learned in the business courses you
have taken as you work to meet the required 10 hours per week for your internship employer. You will
have the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors you have acquired
throughout your academic and professional career.
This internship course is made up of two distinctive component parts, which we refer to as: 1) The
Practical Side and 2) the Academic side. The practical side of the internship is your theoretical playground,
while the academic side is where you will culminate the course outcomes. The practical side of your
internship will comprise both positive and negative experiences. Both types of experience offer great
opportunity for learning. Embrace the opportunity to evaluate problems and opportunities; to create
solutions to problems or methods for capitalizing on opportunities; to analyze systems, processes, policies,
and procedures; all with relation to the positive and negative experiences you may have. It is important to
note that you are in control of your internship experience on the practical side of the course. This is an
unstructured practical experience and circumstances will vary by individual. We will help to guide you to
gain control over your practical experiences, but it will be up to you to make it happen. Faculty and
administrators will not interfere in your practical experiences.
Course
Outcomes
MT490:
Internship
Theory to
Practice
Practice to
Theory
Once you practice and experience theories and concepts on the practical side of your internship,
you will connect your practical experiences with the theories and concepts derived from further research
while developing a Business Case based on the Course Outcome topics on the academic side of your
internship. When working on the academic side of your experience, it is essential for you to disengage
from the practical side of your internship in order to view your experiences from an outside-in perspective.
This may sound a bit confusing at first, but it is quite simple really. Let’s take you on a step-bystep journey through the process of connecting theory to practice with relation to the course outcomes on
the practical side of your internship, and practice to theory with relation to the course outcomes on the
academic side of your internship.
Course Outcomes
When conducting research, and while working for your internship employer, it is imperative that
the course outcomes are always on your mind. The purpose of this course is to have you culminate the
course outcomes through the development of a Business Case report. The course outcomes are:
MT490-1: Evaluate information management, planning, and control in business environments.
MT490-2: Analyze organizational processes and procedures in a variety of business settings.
MT490-3: Synthesize appropriate principles, concepts, and frameworks for making ethical decisions.
MT490-4: Assess the roles that structure, management, and leadership play in organizational
performance.
MT490-5: Evaluate how economics, government, and law affect value creation in the global context.
MT490-6: Evaluate career skills in the field of business and management.
By the end of this course, you must culminate each course outcome. Notice that each course
outcome contains a variety of topics. Additionally, each outcome starts with a particular action verb. Your
goal in this course is to culminate each of the course outcomes. Within each course outcome, you must
address each of the respective outcome topics by developing deliverables that demonstrate your ability to
perform the action verb found as the first word in the outcome. For instance:
Course Outcome One (1) is:
MT490-1: Evaluate information management, planning, and control in business environments.
This outcome can be broken down into fours topics:
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●
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Evaluate information management in business environments
Evaluate Information planning in business environments
Evaluate Information Controls in business environments
Evaluate how information management, planning, and controls work together in business
environments
To culminate course outcome one (1), you will evaluate each of these topics using approaches to
connecting theory to practice and practice to theory as discussed later in this handbook. Evaluation of
these topics means that you will develop an educated opinion using higher order thinking skills (critical
thinking, problem solving, decision making, creative thinking, reflective thinking) based on inductive
reasoning abilities. This ultimately results in making judgments or decisions based on the value of
research. This is all accomplished through connecting your experiences with objective critical thinking,
researching and communication techniques. After making a judgment, you will provide recommendations,
solutions, and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and solutions.
Course Outcome Two (2) is:
MT490-2: Analyze organizational processes and procedures in a variety of business settings.
To culminate course outcome two (2), this outcome can be broken down into three topics:
● Analyze organizational processes in a variety of business settings
● Analyze organizational procedures in a variety of business settings
● Analyze how organizational processes and procedures work together in a variety of business
settings
To culminate course outcome two (2), you will analyze each of these topics using approaches to
connecting theory to practice and practice to theory as discussed later in this handbook. Analysis of these
topics means that you will break down, into component parts, the steps in business processes and
procedures employed by your internship organization. You will than explain the significance of each
component part the process and procedure. The next step would be to explain how each component
contributes to the whole process and procedure. In the analysis of these outcome topics, you will analyze
and make a determination on whether the existing process or procedure adds value to the efficiency and
effectiveness of the organization. After making such determination, you will provide recommendations,
solutions, and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and solutions.
Course Outcome Three (3) is:
MT490-3: Synthesize appropriate principles, concepts, and frameworks for making ethical decisions.
To culminate course outcome three (3), this outcome can be broken down into four topics:
●
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●
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Synthesize principles for making ethical decisions
Synthesize concepts for making ethical decisions
Synthesize frameworks for making ethical decisions
Synthesize principles, concepts, and frameworks for making ethical decisions.
To culminate course outcome three (3), you will synthesize, which means to create, build, design,
develop, or construct a deliverable that enables managers and employees to make a decision. To determine
what type of ethics based deliverable your internship employer needs, you will make observations through
the connection of theory to practice and practice to theory throughout your internship experience. Once
you determine the type of ethics based deliverable that the organization needs, you will use best practices
to outline and produce the deliverable. Once the deliverable is produced, you will provide
recommendations, solutions, and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and
solutions.
Course Outcome Four (4) is:
MT490-4: Assess the roles that structure, management, and leadership play in organizational
performance.
To culminate course outcome four (4), this outcome can be broken down into four topics:
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Assess the role that structure plays in organizational performance
Assess the role that management plays in organizational performance
Assess the role that leadership plays in organizational performance
Assess the role that structure, management, and leadership play collectively in organizational
performance
To culminate course outcome four (4), you will assess each of these topics using approaches to
connecting theory to practice and practice to theory as discussed later in this handbook. Assessing these
topics means that you will develop an educated opinion using critical thinking based on inductive,
deductive, and/or abductive reasoning abilities in order to make a judgment or decision based on the value
of research in connection with your experiences by using an objective and critical thinking, researching
and communication techniques. After making a judgment, you will provide recommendations, solutions,
and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and solutions.
Course Outcome Five (5) is:
MT490-5: Evaluate how economics, government, and law affect value creation in the global context.
To culminate course outcome five (5), this outcome can be broken down into four topics:
●
●
●
●
Evaluate how economics affects value creation in the global context
Evaluate how law affects value creation in the global context
Evaluate how government affects value creation in the global context
Evaluate how government, law and economics collectively affect value creation in the global
context
To culminate course outcome five (5), you will evaluate each of these topics using approaches to
connecting theory to practice and practice to theory as discussed later in this handbook. Evaluation of
these topics means that you will develop an educated opinion using critical thinking based on inductive,
deductive, and/or abductive reasoning abilities. This ultimately results in making a judgment or decision
based on the value of research. This is all accomplished through connecting your experiences with
objective critical thinking, researching and communication techniques. After making a judgment, you will
provide recommendations, solutions, and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and
solutions.
Course Outcome Six (6) is:
MT490-6: Evaluate career skills in the field of business and management.
To culminate course outcome six (6), this outcome can be broken down into one main topic area,
made up of many different subtopics:
● Evaluate what professional competencies are essential for you to develop for success in the field
of business and management.
o Knowledge
o Skills
o Abilities
o Behaviors
To culminate course outcome six (6), you will evaluate each of these topics using approaches to
connecting theory to practice and practice to theory as discussed later in this handbook. Evaluation of
these topics means that you will develop an educated opinion using critical thinking based on inductive,
deductive, and/or abductive reasoning abilities. This ultimately results in making a judgment or decision
based on the value of research. This is all accomplished through connecting your experiences with
objective critical thinking, researching and communication techniques. After making a judgment, you will
provide recommendations, solutions, and an action plan on how to implement your recommendations and
solutions. Examples of professional competencies include topics like leadership, time management, selfefficacy, analytic abilities, critical thinking, decision making, etc…
Now that you know the course outcomes, it is imperative for you to actualize the definition of
objectivity versus subjectivity in the context of experience, research and communication to grasp the
concept behind Theory to Practice and Practice to Theory.
The Professional Competency Outcome is:
PC-2.2: Formulate innovative solutions for identified initiatives.
To culminate this competency outcome, you will develop viable and well justified solutions to
problems and opportunities within your internship organization in the final Business Case deliverable due
in unit 10.
What is Experiential Learning?
The process of experiential learning requires an intern to put the knowledge, skills, abilities, and
behaviors learned in a formal educational setting, into practice. This is called putting “Theory to Practice.”
In the courses you completed throughout your degree plan, you learned many theories and concepts and
attained knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors at various levels of rigor. Now, it is time for you to put
what you know and can do into action for your intern organization. Upon application of the theoretical
and conceptual knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors, you will return to the academic setting to reflect
on your experiences, thoughts, ideas, observations, emotions, etc. by putting “Practice to Theory.” Your
ability to put “Theory to Practice” and “Practice to Theory” is the essence of your experiential learning
journey here at Kaplan University. However, it is important to consider both Theory and Practice
individually before connecting the two concepts.
Theory
As stated by Dunmade (2013), theories are verified empirical truths that may be used in
application, by practitioners, as a point of reference when making decisions and thinking critically about
a topic. When considering sources of Theory or Concepts you will put to use during your internship
experiences, both on the practical and academic side of your internship, you should consider the idea of
Objectivity as the focal point of your understanding. Objectivity means having valid, factual, and logical
evidence and viewpoints on a subject. Application of objectivity is intended to be free from bias and
considers various points of view from scholarly and/or professional resources. In academia, the key to
using objective information that is valid, factual, logical and free from bias is dependent upon the type of
research sources one uses in the development of deliverables.
In this course, you will use theories and concepts extracted from academic and professional
resources that have been objectively verified. Such resources include peer-reviewed journal articles,
textbooks, books, trade magazines, information found in industry based professional organizations, and
published government information. These resources are heavily reviewed and scrutinized by public,
academic, and professional interest groups to confirm objectivity. These are the only acceptable research
resources you may consider in the development of your deliverables in this course.
Examples of search tools you can use to find objective research resources
● Using the Kaplan University library is a must. The endless resources found in the library are all
useable in your deliverables.
● Textbooks from your courses are excellent resources.
● Nonfiction Books are excellent resources
● Trade Magazines
● Websites: Please note, the only websites permitted for use in this course include the following:
o Professional Association websites
o Professional Organization websites
o Any websites provided by and/or approved by your Professor
Note: In academia, we prefer that you refrain from using any websites other than professional and
government websites, as research sources. You should not use blogs, wiki’s, social media, or any other
website that can be perceived as invalid.
The best research resource to use in this course is the ABI/INFORM database found within the
Kaplan University Library.
Please remember, using objectively valid, factual, and logical research resources while developing your
Business Case is required.
Practice
Internships offer students an opportunity to literally experience learning by practicing course
outcomes in a reality based setting. While you are immersed in the workplace setting, whether working
onsite or virtually, it is imperative that the course outcomes are always on your mind. During the practice
component of your internship, you will want to apply theory from an objective perspective as much as
possible Connecting theory to practice based activities will be discussed in a future section. You will also
want to collect primary data based on your experiences throughout the 10 hours of work per week.
While working for your internship employer, you will be collecting primary data using a number
of field research techniques. This qualitative approach requires you to critically think, observe and
experience using a qualitative mindset to collect data that you will use to develop a Business Case on the
academic side of your internship course.
From a methodological perspective, you will use time tested qualitative techniques to extract the
essence of your experiences, observations, and interactions with professionals that you work with or
encounter in your internship.
The field research methodological techniques you will employ while experiencing and practicing
learning on the practical side of your internship are all related to the practice of field research. The practice
of field research involves direct observation (like shadowing a manager), indirect observation, participant
observation, executing tasks, reviewing documentation, interviews, and self-evaluation.
The goal of field research, no matter the type of primary data collection method, is to identify and
capture the essence of who, what, why, when, where, and how the data being collected is related to
the course outcome topics.
Field Research: An approach to collecting qualitative data to understand and interpret the psychological
and or social reality of an individual, groups of people, or systems (such as organizations) by accessing
and assessing the lived experiences from a formal and/or informal perspective. The types of field
research you will engage in, include:
Direct Observation: This type of observation takes place when the field researcher is physically
present and is able to personally experience and take note of occurrences, transactions,
behaviors, conversations, processes, procedures, systems, structures, and events. Under such
circumstances, the field researcher is immersed in the practical work setting and is able to extract
the essence of the lived experiences. The researcher uses conventional means of recording data,
such as using journaling and note taking techniques while in use of the five senses. However,
unless the field researcher is conducting a self-analysis related to experiences, it is essential for
the researcher to maintain an unbiased perspective by eliminating personal perceptions. In
communications, such as written or oral deliverables, it is essential to always maintain a third
person narrative perspective to disseminate direct observations.
Indirect Observation: This type of observation relies on digital, mechanical, photographic, or
other electronic means of recording occurrences, transactions, behaviors, conversations,
processes, procedures, systems, structures, and events. Indirect observation typically requires
the field researcher to use technological devices or software to record the primary data. This type
of data collection results in a permanent record of data and offers the field researcher an
opportunity to review, upon demand, the primary data recordings. Upon use, the field researcher
should maintain an unbiased perspective by eliminating personal perceptions. In
communications, such as written or oral deliverables, it is essential to always maintain a third
person narrative perspective to disseminate direct observations.
Participant Observation: This type of observation helps the field research develop and record
an understanding of the setting, environment, psychological, and societal aspects of occurrences,
transactions, behaviors, conversations, processes, procedures, systems, structures, cultures, and
events inside and out of the internship organization. The goal of participant observation is to
develop an understanding of the organizational culture and design, including everyday rituals
and routines, policies, procedures, systems, and processes.
Executing Tasks: Working for your internship employer, actively journal, record, and/or take
notes about the experiences you have, such as occurrences, transactions, behaviors,
conversations, processes, procedures, systems, structures, and events. Take note that although
you will be executing everyday tasks and responsibilities, they may or may not be directly related
to the course outcome topics. Sometimes, the purpose of you executing everyday tasks and
responsibilities is to give you access to the organization and its culture and operations in order
to learn about it in the context of the course outcome topics.
Reviewing Documentation: Gain permission from management to attain and evaluate
organizational documentation. Reviewing documentation, you should extract value from its
content and context, as related to the course outcome topics. Use the information extracted from
the documentation to aid in development of your course deliverables.
Interviews: Field researchers may formally or informally interview individuals or groups of
people by asking questions and taking notes of answers and reactions to the answers. There are
three types of interviews:
● Informal (Conversational) Interviews: This type of interview normally occurs during or
after direct and participant observations. The field researcher can converse with fellow
employees, leaders, managers, or any other stakeholder (interviewee) deemed relevant
to the business case. As the conversation occurs, the researcher develops pertinent
questions and spontaneously and informally asks the interviewee. This is an appropriate
interview approach when the field researcher desires flexibility to address topics and
ideas that may emerge throughout the conversational exchange.
● Unstructured Interviews: This type of interview requires the field researcher to formally
gain access to an interviewee or group of interviewees in order to conduct the interview.
The purpose of this type of interview is to systematically capture data throughout a series
of interviews for the purpose of identifying trends. Prior to conducting interviews, the
field researcher must develop open-ended interview questions and inquiries so that all
interviewees will answer similar questions during the quest to extract deep meaning and
as much detail as possible from the interviewee.
● Structured Interviews: This type of interview requires the field researcher to formally
gain access to an interviewee or group of interviewees in order to conduct the interview.
The interview questions are carefully written prior to the interview for the purpose of
consistency. The field researcher conducts the interview by asking a series of questions
in the same order and manner to all interviewees. To preserve consistency. The questions
may be open or closed ended, depending on the purpose of the interview. This type of
interview enables the field researcher to compare and contrast data across interviewees.
Self-Evaluation: Depending on the circumstances, the field researcher may
choose to evaluate him/her at a given time during the 10-hour internship workweek. Selfevaluation may consist of reflective exercises, personality tests, professional development
activities, and other methods of actualizing professional competencies.
It’s important to record your experiences observations, and interactions. You should take great
care and diligence in recording viable data for analysis, synthesis, and evaluation based on the course
outcome topics throughout your ten (10) hours of work per week.
Practical Side of Internship: Theory to Practice
Figure 2. Applying Theory to Practice in the Work Setting
Theory to Practice is the process of practically applying learned knowledge, skills, abilities, and
behaviors in a real world setting. Each week, you will be required to work a minimum of 10 hours on the
practical side of your experiential learning journey. During this time, you will apply theories and concepts
learned throughout your degree plan, using viable and current research sources to ensure you are practicing
relevant business theories and concepts related to the course outcome topics. Examples of applying theory
to practice during your internship practical experience can help you understand how this works:
Examples of Applying Theory to Practice in Your Internship:
1. During the first week of the internship, you experience an onboarding process that introduces
you to the organizational design and culture, management controls, systems and processes,
policies and standard operating procedures. What you experience may be positive or negative
with relation to how you are treated, how effective and efficient you perceive communications
to be, and how information is disseminated. There may be too much information, or there may
not be enough. Either way, it is up to you to decide based on your very own perceptions from a
professional perspective. In week one, it is understood that you will not go into your experience
armed with theories and concepts you would like to test, observe, experience, etc… So, week
one is a naturally occurring experience that requires great attention and awareness so that you
may identify theories and concepts you have previously learned in prior courses.
This situation is related to all of the course outcomes in one way or another. Here are some ideas
on how to analyze and evaluate the course outcome topics related to this situation:
● With regard to course outcome 1, you have an opportunity to evaluate the information provided
about Management Information Systems used throughout the organization. You should be
curious and find out as much as you possibly can about the information systems used throughout
the organization. Ask questions, such as 1) What type of Enterprise Resource Planning software
does the organization use, if any? 2) What business and functional level information systems are
used, if any? 3) How does the organization control information flow? 4) What type of
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information planning occurs to plan for the future? There are so many questions related to
Information Management, Planning, and Controls you can ask and explore. During the
onboarding process, you should be inquisitive and explore these topics as much as possible to
prepare for your deliverables on outcome one. Use research resources to identify Information
Management, Planning, and Controls theories that can be used to help improve the organizations.
Conduct research on how to effectively design an onboarding process. Take notes on how to
improve problems or capitalize on opportunities.
With regard to course outcome 2, you are directly immersed in the onboarding process as a new
intern during week one. No matter the organization, there are procedures used to indoctrinate
you into the organizational culture, and to acclimate you into your role and responsibilities. You
have an opportunity to analyze the onboarding process you experience. Although this process is
likely designed to indoctrinate all new interns consistently into the organization, roles and
responsibilities, it is possible that individual experiences will differ greatly due to human nature,
human error, or circumstance. During the onboarding process, you should be inquisitive and
explore these topics as much as possible to prepare for your deliverables on outcome one.
Conduct research on how to effectively design an onboarding process. Take notes on how to
improve problems or capitalize on opportunities.
With regard to course outcome 3, you have an opportunity to experience how organizational,
managerial, and leadership employs its principles, concepts, and frameworks with regard to
ethics. Evaluating how a new intern is indoctrinated into the organization based on these ethics
based topics is an important inquiry. However, that’s not the only perspective to explore. You
can also look at the psychological aspects of ethics with relation to how individual leaders
demonstrate the ethical principles and concepts you learned about in the orientation training. Do
some research on ethical theories and concepts that relate to your experiences! Take notes on
how to improve problems or capitalize on opportunities.
With regard to course outcome 4, you have an opportunity to learn about the organizational
structure, its managerial hierarchy, and whom the leaders are running the organization. There
are great opportunities for you to evaluate topics like power, controls, communications, and
much more. Truly, the sky’s the limit with regard to this course outcome. Do some research on
organizational design, management, and leadership theories and concepts that relate to your
experiences! Take notes on how to improve problems or capitalize on opportunities.
With regard to course outcome 5, you have an opportunity to experience legal compliance
processes and procedures employed by the organization. Although the compliance issues you
will experience have more to do with the United States legal system requirements, you will have
a basis to compare and contrast these experiences with research on international legal systems
compliance issues for the deliverables related to outcome 5. Do some research on legal
compliance issues with relation to new hire procedures to identify theories and concepts that
relate to your experiences! Take notes on how to improve problems or capitalize on
opportunities.
With regard to outcome 6, there is an opportunity to evaluate who you may be as a professional.
There are a plethora of professional competencies you can apply and reflect on during week one,
including your very own communication, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, agility,
leadership knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors. Truly, the sky’s the limit when it comes to
evaluating your professional competencies. Do some research on professional competencies to
identify theories and concepts that relate to your experiences and to help you self-actualize! Take
notes on how to improve problems or capitalize on opportunities.
2. This is an example of how to practice Course Outcome 6 by addressing stress management from
a “Theory to Practice” perspective in your internship experiences:
Early in your course work here at Kaplan University, you might have learned about the
Transactional Stress Theory. The transactional stress theory suggests that individuals may react
differently to stressful situations because of the different ways information is processed. This is
particularly the case when considering differences in how individuals perceive, experience, and
manage feelings under stressful conditions and deadlines (Yuntao, 2014). This theory is relevant
to your professional development process in this course. Your experiences in week 5 of the
course could have triggered your interest in this topic. Due to the high stress environment at your
place of employment, your might find it essential to assess the way you react under stress
situations, especially when receiving spontaneous demands from your managers. Over the next
10 hours of work next week, you will monitor and take notes of your reactions to stress and
deadlines to identify how you might improve your behaviors (such as your temper), body
language, and verbal responsiveness. This will surely be a valuable learning experience in
relation to Outcome 6 which is related to Career Skills in a variety of business settings.
3. This example addresses Time Management in relation to Course Outcome 6, using a concept
from a textbook used in a Kaplan University course. Over the next three weeks, you may be
assigned to shadow three different supervisors that oversee production in a manufacturing plant.
You may observe that all three supervisors hold hour-long meetings with their direct reports on
a weekly basis. In all three meetings, each supervisor may cover the same exact safety protocol
as a mandatory training exercise. After each meeting, you might decide to discuss the purpose
of such training with each supervisor. Each complained that they were unable to cover important
issues and topics because of the required training. You might observe several other instances
where efforts are being duplicated in the manufacturing plant. Such duplication of efforts can
negatively impact efficiency and productiveness in any business, which is the reason for
planning and organizing labor and resources as precisely as possible. As indicated by Bateman
and Snell (2009), “Within an organization’s structure, differentiation is created through division
of labor and job specialization” (pg. 128). In the coming week of work with your externship
employer, you might plan to discuss with leadership, several observations where duplication of
efforts may be negatively affecting efficiency and productiveness in the business. This can be a
valuable experience to document in your field research for connection of practice to theory in
your Business Case.
4. Let’s say you have a passion for marketing and you happen to have an internship working in the
marketing department of an organization. In this situation, there is great opportunity for you to
conduct research on theories and concepts you might be able to apply or observe in the practical
setting prior to beginning weeks 2-10 of your internship. With relation to Consider the theory of
target marketing, which includes understanding consumer buying behaviors, segmentation
strategy, choosing a target marketing strategy that fits your marketing mix, and the position
strategy of your product. You can conduct deep research on what it takes to effectively employ
target marketing techniques in an organization like your internship company. Then, while
working during units 2-10, evaluate the internship organization is using its target marketing
strategy, comparing and contrasting your observations and experiences with the research you
conducted on the topic. You will ultimately want to identify problems and/or opportunities the
company has with relation to the application of target marketing theory. This evaluation process
can easily relate to all six (6) of the course outcomes.
Throughout your experiential learning journey, you will put theory to practice while working for
your internship employer. However, as part of the learning process, it is also important to reflect on your
experiences in connection with research and the course outcomes subsequent to applying theory to
practice. This learning process is called going from “practice to theory.”
Academic Side of Internship: Practice to Theory
Figure 3. Applying Practice the Theory in the Academic Setting.
On the academic side of your internship course, you will apply practice to theory. This is the
process of academically reflecting on experiences related to the application of knowledge, skills, abilities,
and behaviors in connection with research. From an academic standpoint, the process of learning through
the application of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors in a real world setting is not complete without
the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of your experiences in connection with viable research sources. In
this reflective exercise, interns/externs are expected to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate practical
experiences with research sources found within the Kaplan University library, textbooks, or other sources
deemed acceptable. A best practice would be to connect your experiences with research in consideration
of the topics contained within the Course Outcomes and Professional Competencies. Below, please find
several examples of putting “Practice to Theory” to help you understand how it is accomplished in written
communication.
Examples of Applying Practice to Theory on the Academic side of Your Internship:
1. This is an example of how to connect practice with theory in relation to ethical practices (Course
Outcome 3) based on experience in your internship place of employment. The goal of this
example is to synthesize research with your experiences. This example would be a viable fit for
the Business Dilemma section of a business case.
The culture of KapConsulting is influenced by the application of the consequentialist ethical
theory by intern leadership. According to Holsinger (2013), “A consequentialist theory judges
the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences that action has” (p. 1). For
example, KapConsulting leadership has gone through great measures in making all interns aware
of the consequences of committing plagiarism by providing information relating to what it is and
why it is important not to do it, in the Employee Handbook. They know the importance of doing
what’s right from an ethical standpoint, so they continue to encourage all employees to avoid
plagiarism in the work environment. One of the company values is integrity. To ensure integrity,
an opportunity exists to create a company policy that requires employees to give credit to an
author of any original work used in the production of internal or external work. Implementing
such a policy will ensure no one has to directly or indirectly suffer the consequences of poor
choices or actions.
2. This is an example of how to connect practice with theory in relation to information planning
(Outcome 1) efforts of the business. The goal of this example is to synthesize research with your
experiences. This example would be a viable fit for the Literature Review section of a business
case.
Information planning provides direction and strengthens confidence in understanding where the
organization is heading and provides opportunities along the way to analyze alternative courses
of actions if needed. By planning how information is organized, coordinated, and consumed over
time, an organization reduces uncertainties, minimizes impulsive decision-making and brings
about effective integration of the decisions and activities of the managers. Information planning
is much more than just forecasting future events and activities. It is a formal, intellectual and
standardized process through which management conceives of and prepares for the business’s
future (Steiner, 1997).
3. This is an example of how to connect practice with theory in relation to information management
(Outcome 1) efforts of the business. The goal of this example is to synthesize research with your
experiences. This example would be a viable fit for the Business Dilemma section of a business
case.
Information management refers to the methods employed by an organization to maintain, track,
and access organizational information (Geczy, Izumi, & Hasida, 2014). This information covers
a wide range of areas, such as client/customer information, employee information, and internal
business processes. In order to be effective, information management systems must be properly
implemented and maintained (Geczy, Izumi, & Hasida, 2014). One of the issues identified as a
major information management problem is the lack of a centralized information portal which
would make locating and using pertinent information easier. At this time, ABC Company
utilizes two central information hubs, including Google Drive and Podio systems. The many
inconsistencies and incompatibilities between the two systems causes problems with
organization, coordination, and communications across departments and business verticals.
Although this problem presents is of consequence to maximizing efficiency, the current systems
are operational and enable the company to function. An opportunity exists to evaluate the
acquisition or lease of a new management information system to control the flow of
information, making for more effective managerial decision making.
Professional Business Communication
Professional Communications
Communication is a two sided transaction that consists of giving and receiving information
through various channels of distribution, including oral, written, and visual communication methods.
Whether you are giving an oral presentation, speaking informally, speaking in front of an audience, writing
a management report, developing a business case, or building an infographic, all three types of
professional communication share the same principles:
● Know your audience
● Be concise
● Avoid personal opinion
● Provide educated opinion
● Have a purpose
● Demonstrate understanding of the topic
● Be holistic
● Analyze and evaluate
● Be creative
● Present information using different perspectives
● Anticipate objections
● Attain feedback
As you can tell, professional communication is extremely complex. The following subsections will
help you better understand how to develop your professional communication abilities.
Establishing an Educated Opinion
To ensure integrity using an unbiased approach to professional writing, it is essential to use
research in your writing to substantiate your opinion. To learn more, read the article entitled: Why Isn’t
My Personal Opinion Good Enough? How to Establish an Educated Opinion in Academic Writing.
Storytelling Abilities
“When you tell a story, you are using the mode of narration; you are narrating. Narratives tell about
personal experience, observations, and reflections based on past experience. Narratives have a
chronological organization and may be short anecdotes (one-time or recurring events) or stories involving
a series of events that happen over time. Using narration is a way to exemplify a point, make your writing
more personal, add spark to engage readers as you introduce a topic or illustrate a point, and help readers
visualize a subject, concept, or issue” (Kaplan University Writing Center, 2016). You may think telling
stories may sound trivial, but the use of stories to communicate is a fundamental building block of
communication. Here are some tips to help you develop rich storytelling abilities:
1. Plan and craft your story to immerse your reader in the lived experiences of an intern working
within your internship organization.
2. Reflect on observations and experiences. Develop a set of ideas that define your internship
organization. Identify moments in time that capture the essence of your internship organization,
its people, culture, vision and purpose, etc.
3. Relive moments in your mind, allowing yourself to emotionally connect with your observations
and experiences.
4. Provide sensory details related to describe your observations and experiences with relation to the
internship organization, people within the organization, systems, processes, etc…
5. Use present tense when telling your story to immerse your reader in the action.
6. Avoid he/she/I/me/my in your writing. Narrate the story. Bring the characters to life.
Professional Writing
Professional writing is the most common communications medium used to communicate
problems and opportunities within business. Writing skill is one of the most sought after competencies
of a business professional. Effectively written material is often the product of great effort, extensive time
for preparation, and organization skills. Professional writing is concise. Professional writing should not
contain unnecessary word use, sentences, or paragraphs. Concise professional writing requires that every
word used has meaning and serves a clear purpose.
Have you read a Peer-Reviewed business journal article that was so compelling that you just
couldn’t put down? Do you have any favorite authors of professional writing materials such as books or
textbooks? Well, those are the people you should take after to develop your own writing style.
Developing your professional business writing style is an important ability to continuously hone
throughout the course of your career. “The business writer should strive for an overall tone that is
confident, courteous, and sincere; that uses emphasis and subordination appropriately; that contains
nondiscriminatory language; that stresses the “you” attitude; and that is written at an appropriate level of
difficulty” (Ober, 1988). The more you improve your writing abilities, the more effective communicator
you will become. Written communication abilities are among the most desirable professional
competencies employers seek in many segments of business and industry. The ability to effectively
deliver information and/or a message in your writing will depend on the audience you re targeting in
your writing. You will primarily write to colleagues, scholars, academics, and professionals in business.
Such writing calls for expository writing style, which is the preferred professional writing style for a
business case. In the business case, you will write in third person, which is often the most appropriate
tone to take in professional writing. Here is a wonderful resource to learn the difference between formal
and informal writing (click here). The purpose of third person writing is to communicate information
and messages without intruding in the plot. However, other types of professional business writing that
you will use in your business case include persuasive, descriptive, and storytelling styles.
For more on developing your writing skills, read the Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing.
Expository Writing Style
The Expository writing style is used in professional writing to present research, present other
people’s viewpoints, or to explain a situation or event without injecting personal bias. To avoid injecting
personal bias into your writing, it is essential to write in third person. Your personal opinion doesn’t
matter in this form of writing. This type of writing is technical, concise, informative, and facts based.
The goal of expository writing is to present facts and information as fairly and accurately as possible. It
is used to convey problems, opportunities, and to explain what may be perceived as difficult to
understand. The goal of this type of writing style is to provide an educated opinion from an objective
(based on factual and/or observable information rather than abstract interpretations of data) perspective,
without giving criticism or argument. Instead, the writer analyzes the topic, synthesizes research, and
evaluates experiences in connection with the theories and concepts in the research in order to make a
conclusive, facts based decision and/or judgment.
When writing an expository essay, it is important to consider your audience. As a business
professional, your audience will be professional colleagues and leaders inside and outside of your
organization. Maintaining a formal tone in your writing demonstrates respect, professionalism, and helps
to eliminate the perception of bias. The preferred voice in expository writing is third person. An
expository essay is objectively written in active voice, which is a formal tone and not a personal tone.
This means you do not use “I think”, “We think”, or “My idea is”, etc… Instead use a professional voice
that is substantiated in research to connect your experiences with theories and concepts from the
literature you read. Best practices suggest that you use phrases like “Research suggests that…”, and
“Roberts and Jones (2016) argue that…”, and “According to Smith (2014), …” Be sure to consider the
following perspectives in your expository writing:
Purpose: A professionally written expository document concisely disseminates why the
document is being written and explains the goals of the document.
Audience: Always consider the readers of your document.
Stakeholders: Always consider what they will do with your information.
Context: Always explain the background of the information in your writing to
inform your reader.
Persuasive Writing Style
The persuasive writing style is thoroughly covered in the writing reference library. If you need
assistance learning how to develop persuasive writing abilities, read the samples and instructions:
Writing Reference Library- Persuasive Writing. Please note that the final persuasive essay example is
written in third person, active voice.
Descriptive Writing Style
The descriptive writing style is thoroughly covered in the writing reference library. If you need
assistance learning how to develop descriptive writing abilities, read the samples and instructions:
Writing Reference Library- Descriptive Writing.
Professional Oral Communication
Oral communication offers you the opportunity to emphasize, persuade, convince, reduce
resistance, change attitudes, and to listen to feedback. When conducting an oral presentation, use the
following principles as a guide:
● Refrain from overselling or overstating the purpose of your presentation.
● Be naturally “communicative” in your presentation, speaking distinctly with confidence and
expert authority.
● Use a three phase approach: 1) Provide background information to start. 2) Provide a detail in the
middle. 3) Summarize concisely to conclude.
● Show enthusiasm. Persuade your audience using clear and simple concepts to explain your topic.
Avoid use of jargon or other buzz words.
● Support statements, opinions, ideas with fact based research.
● Address anticipated objections in your presentation.
● Address all major topic areas using visual aids that depict the primary variables under discussion.
● Although the purpose of your oral presentation is to achieve a grade, it is much more than just a
deliverable. Attain meaningful feedback from people of importance that your ideas to solving
problems or capitalizing on opportunities can positively impact. Find out what they think about
your innovative ideas and change proposals.
There are a variety of oral presentation styles that are appropriate under different circumstances:
1. Friendly Presentation: Usually takes place when an experienced individual that is a peer of most
of the audience delivers an informational presentation. Often, the presentation is disorganized
and vague. This is not an unacceptable oral presentation style that may result in grade penalties if
used.
2. The Performer: The presenter uses jokes and stories to deliver perspective on the topic matter.
Use of visual aids are typical of this type of presentation style. The focus of this presentation is
on satisfying the audience and little information is disseminated. Using this presentation style is
advantageous, just be sure to stick to the topic and effectively present the required information
while entertaining the audience.
3. Academic Presentation: A very precise and deliberate presentation of complex factual
information that is well organized. Be careful with using a purely academic presentation style!
Your presentation can be perceived as boring and irrelevant to the audience.
4. The Reader: This presentation style is boring and mundane. The presenter tends to read material
straight from paper or slides in a PowerPoint presentation. Such presentations tend to be
technical and difficult to understand, albeit the information covered is typically precise and
accurate.
5. The Turtle or The Rabbit: A presenter that is nervous and closed as though they want to crawl
into a shell and hide, is known as a turtle. A turtle presenter moves slowly through a
presentation, making it seem like it will last forever. A presenter that is hyperactive and speeds
through a presentation is known as a rabbit.
6. Playful & Interactive: This presenter uses gimmicks and magic tricks to impress the audience.
Visual aids can be overdone and too much interactivity may detract from the presentation,
causing the information to get lost within all of the bells and whistles.
Determining what presentation style suits your personality and level of emotional intelligence is
essential. It is critical that you are comfortable when delivering an oral presentation, so setting up the
components of the presentation can help you create a strong foundation to build on. Ideally, you want to
have the rapport of a friendly presentation, the organization and fact based content of an academic
presentation, the ability to captivate the audience as a performer using playful and interactive tactics. It
is always best to avoid being a turtle or a rabbit type presenter. Using a combination of these
presentation styles, you can leave a lasting impression on your audience.
Visual Presentation
Ever hear the expression: “A picture is worth a thousand words”? Well, it is true! Our lives are
full of images, paintings, symbols, charts, diagrams, photographs, etc. Visual aids play an important role
in communication!
When creating visual aids for your oral presentations using PowerPoint, be sure to consider the
following:
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Make sure the lettering on your slides is large enough for your audience to see.
Be sure to use a professional theme with a conservative color scheme.
Ensure visual aids properly fit the slide.
Use visual aids to simplify technical information.
Be sure to take advantage of the Kaplan University Writing Reference Library resources on
Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations.
UNIT 2: BUILDING A BUSINESS CASE
Writing a Business Case Vignette
The art of storytelling is an age old communications medium that has powerful implications on
culture and society. Within organizations, storytelling can help to enhance the organizational culture,
inspire employees, and persuade leaders to make decisions. Stories offer your listeners a shared
experience, and if effectively told, they have the potential to set the imagination on fire.
Storytelling is a catalyst in the connection of practice to theory on the academic side of your
internship. In your final project, storytelling will be used throughout your entire business case. However,
the opening story, known as a business case vignette, sets the stage for the entire business case. The
objective of your business case vignette is to describe the internship organization from a holistic
perspective, telling a story about intricacies concerning the existence of the organization, including but
not limited to the business design, systems, policies, and the people that live and operate within the
mechanics of your internship organization. Your goal as the writer is to elicit an emotional response,
develop perceptions, garner opinions, and to influence beliefs and attitudes within your reader based on
explanation of scenarios and situations. The main objective of your business case vignette is to identify
the variables (course outcome topics) that will be covered throughout the entire business case. Using
relational thinking techniques, a story is told to set the foundation for the introduction of the business
dilemmas later on in the business case. In other words, think of the Business Case Vignette as a
conversational “icebreaker.”
Passionate Purpose
Telling a story is what the business case vignette is all about, but you have to do it with
passionate purpose. In order to impart passionate purpose into your story, you will want to speak to your
audience with the intent of creating a desired effect on them. The idea is to invoke emotional reaction to
your presentation. Here is a list of passionate purpose action words that you can use while planning your
business case vignette:
Admit
Condemn
Inspire
Accuse
Confront
Plead
Alarm
Defend
Punish
Amuse
Deny
Shame
Apologize
Dismiss
Surprise
Argue
Excite
Vindicate
Challenge
Forgive
Warn
Clarify
Impress
Win over
This is just a starter list of passionate purpose action words to consider using when planning your
business case vignette. Feel free to consider invoking other emotions within your reader through the
persuasive storytelling you will conduct in this section of your final project. Use the following questions
to help develop your business case vignette in essay format (Note: A business vignette is not a
question/answer dialogue, it is written in essay format and stands alone without questions/answers):
In the development of your business case vignette, you can frame it to address the following
topics. These are only suggestions. You may expand your business case vignette to discuss anything you
feel is pertinent to the story of your internship organization.
● What is the business case about?
Explain the background of the internship organization and tell the story about its existence, its
health, and its stability. Explain the organizational design, and identify key decision makers within the
organization as managers and/or leaders. Explain how the systems and policies structure the
organization from a mechanistic and organic perspective. Briefly describe scenarios that are intended to
provoke a response in your reader.
Remember, this story is about the organization! It is not about you or your direct experiences or
thoughts. You are narrating this story.
● What is the purpose of the business case?
Explain the reasoning behind the business case you are developing. What is the objective of the
business case? How will the business case help the internship organization? Provide concrete examples
of the people and their behaviors within your internship organization that led to the purpose behind the
development of your business case.
● Introduce the Protagonist Situation
The central character of your business case is the internship organization as a living entity within
business, industry, society, and the world over. The central character is known as a Protagonist within
the business case. The business case should explain the state of the internship organization from the
perspective of the protagonist, and the challenges, constraints, and opportunities the protagonist faces in
its current state. In your business case, you must be able to evaluate and make judgments about the
protagonist from the perspective of a leader and decision maker from the perspective of the protagonist.
Be sure that your stories related to the protagonist (internship organization) is real and plausible to the
reader. Your reader should be able to relate to your stories. Contextually, ensure your stories describe
the scenarios, circumstances and situations being told. However, leave enough room to allow your
reader to participate in the interpretation of the business case. Your goal is to influence and persuade the
reader’s interpretation. Just be sure that the context of the stories told are easily understood, consistent,
and interesting.
IMPORTANT: Most often, this is the first time a student/intern will ever be required to write a
business case vignette. Your first instinct will be to contact your instructor for an example business case
vignette. This is not the purpose of this written communication exercise. You are required to develop a
unique and original business case vignette. Examples of case study vignettes exist all over the internet,
but BEWARE! If you look to copy the format or context of an existing case vignette, you miss out on
the real opportunity to develop your persuasive writing and storytelling skills. A business case vignette
should be personal and should come from the heart of the writer. Your perception is your reality! This is
an opportunity for you to share your perception and your reality as a narrator of the protagonist situation
with your reader. Develop and hone your writing skills. Do not look for examples! Allow this piece of
written communication to demonstrate your abilities as an individual.
UNIT 3: IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
The purpose of this unit is to identify problems and opportunities within your internship
organization through the process of discovery. The problems and opportunities for which you will seek
to discover must be in relation to the 6 course outcomes. Use the following step-by-step approach to
complete this assignment:
1. Conduct field research: It is highly advantageous to evaluate successes and failures of
organizations through real world business experiences. Conducting field research is one of the
best ways of extracting value and unearthing information from internship experiences. Field
research activities will require you to interface and communicate with people, systems, policies,
and procedures within your internship organization. By engaging in discovery based activities,
you can attain firsthand knowledge and understanding of problems and opportunities your
internship organization is experiencing. Don’t hesitate to engage in the discovery of problems
and opportunities. You can begin by asking questions, reflecting on experiences, and making
observations.
a. Ask questions: Talk to leaders and colleagues within your internship organization about
the course outcome topics. Take note of their concerns, ideas, opinions, statements, etc…
Use this information to identify problems and opportunities.
b. Reflect & Observe: Based on your experiences and observations (including reading
organizational documents), take note of problems and opportunities.
2. Conduct a situational analysis: To identify problems and opportunities in association with the
course outcome topics, it is necessary to understand the state of the internship organization. Use
the following situation analysis guidelines to identify problems and/or opportunities within your
internship organization:
Business Problem: Assess the environment and conditions of your internship organization to
identify core business problems per course outcome using the following criteria:
● Write a generic description of some symptoms that may be related to a core problem at
hand within the business.
● Brainstorm to identify as many reasons why the symptoms exists
● Determine the elements that act as a catalyst for the symptoms to the problem (human,
process, technology, etc.)
● Describe the impact the symptoms to the problem is having on the business (financial,
cultural, operational)
● Determine how long the symptoms to the problem have existed.
Business Opportunity: Assess the environment and conditions of your internship organization to
identify business opportunities per course outcome using the following criteria:
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● Write a generic description of the symptoms that may be related to an opportunity the
business has, and should possibly strategize to capitalize on the opportunity.
● Identify supporting evidence that proves the opportunity exists.
● Determine the lifespan of the opportunity.
● Describe the impact the opportunity will have on the business.
3. Determine the root of the problem or opportunity: You have identified symptoms to the problem
or opportunity and understand some of the variables that cause the problem or establish a need
for the opportunity within your internship organization. Now it is time to determine the root
cause of the problem or opportunity.
Most times, it is easy to fix symptoms and ignore the core problem because it is too time
consuming or expensive to address it directly. Sometimes, you may know there are symptoms to
a core problem, but it is too difficult to determine what the core problem really is. However, it is
important to realize that if you only fix symptoms of a problem, the symptoms are bound to
return time and again since the core problem remains. If you take the time to evaluate the
symptoms to really determine what is causing the problem at hand, it is possible to fix the people
issues, policies, systems, processes, and procedures that enable the problem so that the problem
is eliminated forever.
The same goes for capitalizing on opportunities. Great ideas are easy! Being a visionary is a
common trait amongst business professionals today. Knowing and fully understanding the
opportunity as a result of great ideas is difficult for most. If you take the time to fully evaluate
the symptoms that lead to opportunity, it is possible to identify the people, policies, systems,
processes, and procedures that can enable the business to capitalize on the opportunity.
Evaluating symptoms to determine the root cause of a problem or opportunity is no easy task. In
medicine, doctors may immediately treat pain as a result of a broken foot with pain killers, but
they will quickly work to solve the root cause of the problem, which is the broken foot.
However, diagnosing a series of symptoms and the root cause of the symptoms in medicine can
be much more complex than one could wish. Just ask Dr. Gregory House.
In business, sometimes it can be just as easy. But just as in medicine, symptoms can be the result
of a much deeper problem or opportunity that requires diagnosis. If you only fix the symptoms,
you will find that the root cause of the problem never disappears and the symptoms of a problem
are bound to recur. If it pertains to an opportunity, you may find that your competitors were able
to capitalize on your companies lost opportunity.
4. Root Cause Analysis: Do some research on conducting a root cause analysis. You will find that
there are many resources for you to consider. This type of analysis will help you dig deep into a
problem or opportunity to figure out the primary cause of the problem and opportunity. You will
find some useful tools on the “Experiential Learning Reference Library” website.
5. The recommended assignment format is shown in the table below. Now that you have identified
the symptoms to a problem/opportunity the organization is experiencing per course outcome,
create a table to document the symptoms to the problems and opportunities you have identified.
Support your problem/opportunity statement by explaining the background of the symptoms
leading to the root cause of the problem/opportunity. Use a minimum of one peer-reviewed
research resource to substantiate your explanation. Be sure to write in third person using
expository writing guidelines. These problems/opportunities are about the organization, not you.
Course Outcome
MT490-1: Evaluate
information management,
planning, and control in
business environments.
Problem/Opportunity
Opportunity: Make a statement
about the opportunity here.
Or
Explanation
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Make a statement about
the problem here.
MT490-2: Analyze
organizational processes
and procedures in a variety
of business settings.
Opportunity: Describe the
opportunity here.
Or
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Describe the problem
here.
MT490-3: Synthesize
appropriate principles,
concepts, and frameworks
for making ethical
decisions.
Opportunity: Describe the
opportunity here.
MT490-4: Assess the roles
that structure, management,
and leadership play in
organizational
performance.
Opportunity: Describe the
opportunity here.
MT490-5: Evaluate how
economics, government,
and law affect value
creation in the global
context.
Opportunity: Describe the
opportunity here.
MT490-6: Evaluate career
Opportunity: Describe the
Or
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Describe the problem
here.
Or
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Describe the problem
here.
Or
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Describe the problem
here.
Explain the symptoms of the problem or
skills in the field of
business and management.
opportunity here.
Or
opportunity. Explain the root cause of the problem
or opportunity. Support the findings of the root
cause with a minimum of one research resource to
connect practice with theory.
Problem: Describe the problem
here.
6. When you diagnose the root of the problem, you have to figure out how to fix it! Continue to the
next unit to continue building a business case to fix the problems and opportunities you have
identified. In the next assignment, you will write a business dilemma to examine the background
of the root cause of the problem/opportunity.
UNIT 4: EXAMINING THE BUSINESS DILEMMA
Writing the business dilemma section of your business case is challenging, but happens to be the
most important task in developing a business case. This expository piece of writing requires you to
demonstrate an ability to immerse your reader into the plot of the story that behind all of the business
problems and opportunities you identified in relation to each of the course outcomes. You want justify
the need to further investigate and solve the problems and opportunities you identified through a concise
and persuasive approach that contextually details the situations and circumstances of the protagonist in
your business case. To successfully develop the business dilemma section of your business case, ensure
you include the following information:
1. Be sure that the narrative of your business dilemma section is written in third person and is
consistent with the protagonist situation discussed in your business case vignette. Remember, the
protagonist may be the organization or department within the organization. The protagonist is not
you or any one individual within the organization. The protagonist, in your business case, is
always the collective organization, or a part/entity within the organizational collective. You are
the narrator of the story behind the protagonist situation related to the problems and/or
opportunities you identified. To address the protagonist situation, you may wish to discuss the
following topics:
a. What is known/unknown about the problem or opportunity?
b. Is there urgency in solving the problem/opportunity? Why?
c. What are the assumptions being made if the problem/opportunity is not solved?
d. What actions must the protagonist take to mitigate risk of the problem or to capitalize on
the opportunity?
e. Describe the internal/external context of the problem/opportunity situation and set of
circumstances.
f. What happens of the problem/opportunity is not resolved?
2. Continue and complete the root cause analysis for the problems and/or opportunities you
identified per course outcome. Upon completion of the root cause analysis, explain the business
dilemma for each course outcome. An explanation of the business dilemma for each course
outcome may include the following topics:
a. Situational analysis
b. Systems and policy analysis
c. Process and procedure analysis
d. Organizational culture considerations
e. Labor considerations
f. Impact on organizational efficiency
g. Impact on organizational effectiveness
h. Impact on quality
i. Social impact
j. Legal implications
k. Risk assessment and mitigation
l. Etc.
3. Ensure that extensive use of peer-reviewed research is used throughout your business dilemma to
substantiate the investigation of each problem and/or opportunity related to each course outcome.
Your business dilemma should demonstrate higher order thinking abilities, such as Critical
thinking and Relational thinking.
UNIT 5: WRITING MANAGEMENT RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The development of management research questions occurs through the actualization of the
business dilemma. You will develop management research questions for each course outcome. The
business dilemma provides a broad overview, explaining the problem/opportunity in relation to the
course outcomes. The next step is to create management research questions that narrow the scope of the
business dilemma by identifying what is at the heart of the problem/opportunity. Your management
research questions for each course outcome problem/opportunity will be shaped to establish boundaries
with which to limit your inquiry into the business dilemmas. The goal of creating management research
questions is to help managers make decisions. Properly designed management research questions will
require the extensive use of primary and secondary research to answer. In design, the management
research question will set you on a strict fact finding mission. The management research questions are a
result of your exploration of the problem/opportunity per course outcome, resulting in a well throughout
hypothesis that states the objective of your business case. Each management research question should be
further broken down into investigative questions that will help you identify specific information that can
lead to alternative solutions to the major management research questions. Review the following
presentation to learn more about Creating Management Research Questions.
To ensure your success in the creation of management research questions, be sure to include the
following information in your deliverable:
● Introductory paragraph: This paragraph should be written expository style with the intention of
persuading the reader. Introduce the concept of developing management research questions and
what they intend to do for your business case. Be sure to use a minimum of one research
resource to substantiate the reasoning behind to importance of management research questions in
your business case.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 1: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on Planning, Managing, and Controlling
Information in your internship organization. Ensure the management research question is an
inquisitive statement that will require extensive primary and secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 1: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 1 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 1: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 1 problem/opportunity.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 2: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on Business Processes and Procedures in
your internship organization. Ensure the management research question is an inquisitive
statement that will require extensive primary and secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 2: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 2 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 2: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 2 problem/opportunity.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 3: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on business ethics in your internship
organization. Ensure the management research question is an inquisitive statement that will
require extensive primary and secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 3: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 3 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 3: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 3 problem/opportunity.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 4: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on organizational structure, leadership, and
management in your internship organization. Ensure the management research question is an
inquisitive statement that will require extensive primary and secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 4: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 4 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 4: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 4 problem/opportunity.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 5: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on how economics, law, and government
impact value creation from a global perspective in your internship organization. Ensure the
management research question is an inquisitive statement that will require extensive primary and
secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 5: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 5 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 5: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 5 problem/opportunity.
● Major Management Research Question- Course Outcome 6: Create a management research
question in relation to the problem/opportunity found on career skills in your internship
organization. Ensure the management research question is an inquisitive statement that will
require extensive primary and secondary research.
a. Minor Investigative Question 1- Course Outcome 6: Create an investigative question
related to the major management research question that will be used to develop
alternative solutions to the course outcome 6 problem/opportunity.
b. Minor Investigative Question 2- Course Outcome 6: Create a second investigative
question related to the major management research question that …
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