COMM 210 – Contemporary Business Thinking

Fall 2018 – Project Guidelines

Section CC
1. In this project, students explore contemporary issues in organizations or business and develop a critical
analysis of these issues. This term, topics include:
a. Strategies for organizations to manage immigrants: How can an organization help immigrants
overcome challenges
b. The impact of the legalization of cannabis on the workplace
c. The Future of Jobs in the World of AI and/or Robotics
d. Is Environmental Sustainability still relevant?
2. Your team will then narrow down the scope of the topic to a particular business question. For
example, your team has selected the following sample topic: Managing teams in the 21 st century. You can
narrow this topic down by discussing the 5 Ws: Who, What, Where, When and Why.
a. Who (Who is your sample?): We will look at project teams within high tech companies.
b. What (What aspect of the main topic are you looking at?): We will examine age diversity.
c. Where (What is the scope of your geographic location?): We will focus on companies in Quebec.
d. When (Pinpoint the time period you want to focus on.): We will look at companies that are
currently active.
e. Why (What do you want to find out?): Do teams with younger members (under 25 years old) have
higher levels of motivation? This would be your business question and the focus of your study.

3. Collect evidence from a variety of sources, as follows:

a. Interviews with 10-12 informants. These informants may include neighbourhood business
owners, employed friends, family members or other acquaintances, students as consumers and so
on. You must study the ethical guidelines for doing research with human participants before
starting these interviews. Your instructor will provide more information in class about the
interview as well as the ethical guidelines. Visit the Office of Research website for detailed
information and human research ethics compliance.
http://oor.concordia.ca/services/researchethicsandcompliance/
b. Secondary sources such as articles about a particular industry and its major players, statistical
information about populations or markets, feature articles about particular companies, other
reports from the business press, company annual reports, and so on.
c. One or two (two is the preferred option) of the fundamental business theories that you will
use as a specific analytic framework to explain and draw conclusions about your topic.

4. In presenting your argument, you must start with a clear claim about your issue (For example: In
Quebec, high tech companies that have young team members have high levels of motivation.) and draw
explicitly on the evidence you have collected in discussing the validity of your claim. Be sure to integrate
your detailed descriptions, analysis and evaluation of the evidence to build a persuasive argument about
your claim (and sub-claims).

5. Before the start of Class #5 (October 2nd) you must submit a paper copy of a TWO-PAGE
(excluding the work plan table) progress report to your instructor which includes:
a. The broad issue your team has selected, a brief description of your business question (5 Ws) and
the preliminary claim. Note that your claim can change as you collect further research.
b. A description of your proposed participants and 4-5 interview questions
c. An initial bibliography of secondary sources
d. The fundamental business theories you have selected, with a brief explanation of their relevance to
your analysis. Note that later in the term you may encounter other theories that may be equally or
more applicable to your analysis
e. Your group processes
f. Your detailed work plan in a form of a table (tasks, dates & name of team member who is
responsible).

Fall 2018. Melanie Briand

 6. A second progress report is required on Class #7 (October 16th). Progress report #2 is a revised version
of the first report it includes changes relevant to your instructor’s comments on your first report, the
interview questions, as well as a “personalized” consent form to inform participants about the purpose of
your research. Also include your first progress report. You must not start collecting data until your
instructor has approved your interview questions and given you clearance to begin. It is
strongly recommended that you continue to work on the secondary sources while you are awaiting
approval for your revised questions. In-class capacity-building exercises will be used to help further your
progress throughout the term. Submit on Moodle in a Word format.

7. The project report will take the form of an article that might appear in a business periodical. Examples
are available in Canadian Business, The Economist, Fast Company and other popular business
magazines. The report should be about 2000-2500 words long. It must be submitted on
MOODLE in Word format, not pdf, before the start of Class #12 (November 20th). A paper
copy of the report must also be submitted at the beginning of Class #12, your 2 progress
reports (see items 5 and 6 above) and the signed consent forms. Your instructor might ask you also for
the write up of your interviews.

8. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. The Academic Code of Conduct defines plagiarism as “the
presentation of the work of another person as one’s own or without proper acknowledgement.” DO NOT
COPY, PARAPHRASE OR TRANSLATE ANYTHING FROM ANYWHERE WITHOUT SAYING FROM
WHERE YOU OBTAINED IT! For detailed definitions of plagiarism and further information, please visit
the following website and explore it thoroughly: http://provost.concordia.ca/academicintegrity/

9. Your team will also be asked to present your findings to the class in the form of a Pecha Kucha
presentation (20 slides * 20 seconds each) during Class #13 (November 23rd). More details about the
format of the presentation will be provided later in the semester. All PowerPoints must also be uploaded
on Moodle before the class. Also submit a hard copy of your PowerPoints the day of your presentation.

10. Your contribution to the project, as judged by your teammates, will be taken into account in your
participation grade. Please read the Peer Assessment Guidelines posted on Moodle.

EVALUATION
Progress reports (Counts for 10% of final grade) Marked out of 10 pts

Oral presentation: Respect of Pecha Kucha guidelines; Speech delivery (voice, pace, Marked out of 10 pts
volume, tone, eye-contact, body posture, self-confidence); handling of questions (Counts
for 5% of final grade)
Term paper (Counts for 15% of final grade) Marked out of 100 pts
Originality and clarity of claims 20 pts
Use of fundamental business theory (or theories), well-integrated into claim and 25 pts
evidence
Quality of evidence: Authority, Sufficiency, Representativeness, Precision, Accuracy, 30 pts
Clarity; Relevance
Structure of the report: Rhetorical style; Writing skills (including grammar, spelling, 25 pts
neatness); Use of appropriate illustrations; Length of report

Fall 2018. Melanie Briand

CONSENT FORM
(DATE)

Hello

My name is: (YOUR NAME). I am a student at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University,
taking a course on Contemporary Business Thinking. As part of the course requirements, my team members
and I are writing a paper on (TOPIC). The goal of the project is to help business students apply concepts from
the course to solve real-world problems.

We hope you will agree to answer a few questions about your experiences related to this topic. Participation is
completely voluntary and the interview will take no longer than 20 minutes. Your answers will be strictly
confidential—your name will not appear in our report without your explicit consent—so please feel free to tell
us your honest opinions.

We greatly appreciate your help with our university project. If at any time you have questions about your rights
as a participant in this project, you may contact the course coordinator, Melanie Briand, by email at:
melanie.briand@concordia.ca or phone: 514-848-2424 ext. 2005

Yours sincerely,

<INSERT FULL NAMES AND SIGNATURES OF ALL TEAM MEMBERS, STARTING WITH THE NAME
LISTED AT TOP OF LETTER>

I consent to be interviewed by the above-named students based on the conditions above.

Yes  No 

I consent to have my name appear in the report, which will only be read by my professor.

Yes  No 

______________________________________ ___________________________________

Signature Date

Fall 2018. Melanie Briand

Formulaire de consentement
[DATE]

Bonjour, je suis (NOM). Je suis inscrit(e) dans un cours de Pensée contemporaine en affaire à l’École de
gestion John Molson, de l’Université Concordia. Comme travail de session, mon équipe et moi devons écrire un
rapport sur (SUJET). L’objectif du projet est d’aider les étudiants en affaire à appliquer des concepts du cours à
de vraies situations organisationnelles.

Nous espérons que vous accepterez de répondre à quelques questions afin nous partager vos
connaissances sur ce sujet. Votre participation est entièrement volontaire et l’entrevue ne prendra pas plus de
20 minutes. Vos réponses demeureront strictement confidentielles—votre nom n’apparaîtra nulle part dans
notre travail sans votre consentement explicite—vous pouvez donc partager vos opinions en toute confiance.

J’apprécie énormément votre aide pour notre projet. Si vous avez des questions sur vos droits en tant
que participant(e), vous pouvez contacter notre professeure, Mélanie Briand, par courriel :
melanie.briand@concordia.ca ou par téléphone: 514-848-2424 poste 2005.

Cordialement,

[NOMS ET SIGNATURES DE TOUS LES MEMBRES DE L’ÉQUIPE, EN COMMENCANT AVEC LE NOM

ECRIT EN HAUT DE LA PAGE]

Je consens à être interviewé par les étudiants mentionné ci-haut.

Oui  Non 

Je consens à ce que mon nom apparaisse dans le rapport qui ne sera lu que par notre professeur.

Oui  Non 

______________________________________ ___________________________________

Signature Dat

Fall 2018. Melanie Briand