1)  8- 10 page write-up (paper of 2500 – 3300 words) on the subject chosen with your specific insights on the facts, decisions made, gaps, etc. Note that cover pages, reference pages, etc. are in addition to the 8 – 10 pages of text (standard spacing of around 1.5). Please use WORD; no PDFs and note the word limit!

  Topic Guidance:

– Organization – the more well known the company, the easier it will be to find material and the more difficult it will be to provide your own unique analysis, so find the right balance;

– Feel free to be (reasonably) creative with your approach and assumptions; not at a ridiculous level, but a reasonable, creative stretch is legitimate;

– Your own local issues make for good subjects and really serve to educate the rest of us; this is especially powerful if you can add your own local insight to the situation;

– Facts are facts and they are important but only as support for your own logic and analysis 

Content:

1) Pick an organization (Company, Authority, Agency, etc.) that is at some level of substance or size; ideally publicly traded, maybe multiple sites, over 500 employees, etc. (not the local restaurant chain or pizza parlor, please);

2) Research how that organization has been impacted by and is currently dealing with the COVID situation. If you can’t find good enough information that may mean that the organization is not large enough or that COVID has had little impact on the firm, so that organization may not be your best choice.

3) Once you have selected and finalized your choice, please let me know so I can put it on the list of organization already chosen. 

4) Outline the following:

a. What are the organization’s value drivers and how does the firm operate under normal circumstances to ensure that those value drivers remain intact?

b. How has the COVID situation impacted the organization overall or in broad, general terms?

c. What has the organization done to manage the COVID impact?

i. Specific to ongoing functions and operations

ii. Specific to preserving their value drivers?

d. Has the organization been successful in managing the COVID crisis?

i. Based on the organization’s articles in the press

ii. Based on YOUR assessment of their response

e. Has the organization’s image during this crisis been tarnished or enhanced?

f. Other- additional insights you believe are worth mentioning

5) Your analysis is key here. While this effort needs to have a level of fact based on your research, it is your analysis and interpretation of that research that is most valuable and necessary.