Running Case
Your Health, Inc. case from the seventh edition of this text, now with updated tasks based on this
edition. Template files are also available on the Companion website. This running case starts
here and continues through Chapter 13. Tasks based on this case are explained in the following
Tasks section; throughout the book, these tasks will build on work done in previous chapters and
scenarios.
Economic inequality is a huge issue. A recent study found that the world’s 80 wealthiest
individuals own as much as the entire world’s poorest 3.5 billion people. The richest 1 percent of
the world’s population control half of the world’s total wealth.15 Many individuals, corporations,
charities, and government agencies have projects and programs in place to attempt to tackle
this and other important global issues such as sustainability, but there are many opportunities to
do more.
A grassroots group of college students has decided to work together to do their part in
making the world a better place. The students are from many different countries, and several
of them met at global conferences, through study abroad experiences, or on various Internet
groups. Strategic goals of this group include developing skills for both college students and for
needy populations, sharing information on existing products and services that promote economic
growth and sustainability, and promoting entrepreneurship. Leaders of this group were reviewing
some ideas for projects (all with a significant IT component) that they could do to support their
strategic goals:
1. Global Treps: Many people are familiar with the television show called Shark Tank where
entrepreneurs (sometimes called “treps”) present their business ideas to a group of investors
or sharks. Several colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools throughout the
world hold unique versions of a shark tank like event. You believe that creating a nonprofit
organization with one central mobile-friendly website/application to assist groups in
organizing these types of events would spark even more entrepreneurs throughout the
world. You would plan to hold several shark tank like events during the term of the project
and create a site and applications to help continue developing more global treps. This site/
application would include the following capabilities:
• Provide guidelines and templates for running a shark tank type of event.
• Accept donations from potential investors targeted toward specific schools or
organizations wishing to host an event (similar to the popular www.donorschoose.org
site where people can fund teacher’s requests).
• Accept ideas for needed new products or services.
• Provide the ability for organizations to create their own custom site to solicit local
participants and sharks, accept applications, and promote the winners as well as losers.
• Research ideas for a mechanism where a certain percentage of all donations and
profits earned by contestants are donated back to the Global Treps organization.
• Provide an online version of the events by showing videos of contestants and live
reactions of the sharks while also getting live inputs and donations from viewers.
2. Change the Laws Campaign: Launch a global campaign to change laws to reduce further
income inequality and promote social responsibility. This project would also involve creating
a mobile-friendly website/application that would include information about current and
proposed laws, allow discussions of potential ideas to change laws, organize people to
contact appropriate lawmakers, etc.
3. Wealthy Unite: Develop a system to enable the richest people in the world to provide their
input on how they can make the world a better place. Provide information on what several
people are currently doing (i.e., Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, famous celebrities, etc.) to
promote philanthropy. Allow others to donate to suggested causes and recommend other
ways to reduce economic inequality.
4. Global Smart Shoppers: Develop a mobile app and website that recommends products and
services produced by organizations that promote social responsibility. Customize the app
so it works in any country in the user’s desired language. Work with large companies that
do not currently sell products or services in certain countries to expand to regions in need.
Allow small companies to easily add their products and services to the shopping network.
Tasks
1. Summarize each of the proposed projects using a simple table format suitable for
presentation to top management. Include the name of each project, identify how each one
supports business strategies, assess the potential financial benefits and other benefits of
each project, and provide your initial assessment of the value of each project. Write your
results in a one-to two-page memo to top management, including appropriate back-up
information and calculations.
2. Evaluate the four projects by preparing a weighted scoring model using the template
provided on the Companion website for this text. Develop at least four criteria, assign
weights to each criterion, assign scores, and then calculate the weighted scores. Print the
spreadsheet and bar chart with the results. Also write a one-page paper that describes this
weighted scoring model and the results.
3. Prepare a business case for the Global Treps project. Assume that the project will take six
months to complete, use many volunteer hours, and cost about $130,000 for hardware,
software, travel, and labor. Use the business case template provided on the Companion
website for this text. Be sure to research information on the television show and events held
by colleges and other groups, which have been sparked by the need for more successful
entrepreneurs. Also visit DonorsChoose.org to see how that site operates and look into
steps for forming a non profit organization.
4. Prepare a draft project charter and an assumption log for the Global Treps project. Assume
that the project will take six months to complete and have a budget of $130,000. Use the
project charter template provided in this text and the sample project charter provided in
Table 4-1 as guides. For the assumption log, document at least two assumptions including
an assumption ID, date, source, category, description, and status. You will be the project
manager, and Dr. K. will be the project sponsor. Other team members will include Bobby,
Ashok, Kim, and Alfreda. You plan to hold four shark tank like events plus develop the Global
Treps site and application.
5. Start a lessons learned register to document knowledge learned on this project. Include
la lessons learned ID, date, source, category, description, impact, recommendations, and
proposed actions. Be creative in then making two entries.
6. Prepare a change request for the Global Treps project, using the template provided on the
Companion website for this text. Assume that you have decided not to provide an online
version of the show as it would be too much work for the initial project. Be creative when
making up information.
Sample Solution
e South the interest for cotton emerge between 1790-1860. This request prompted the increment of servitude, from 700,000 slaves in the last part of the 1790's to 4.5 million slaves during the 1860s. To separate the North and South expresses, the United States embraced the Mason-Dixon line in 1779 made by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. At the point when the Northwestern Ordinance of 1787 which arrange the Ohio valley into five new regions, which could be up for statehood. The contention here would be somewhat or not the states ought to be free or slave states. This mandate would ultimately prompt the Cold War between the South and the North. During this period there was strain between the North and the South, on the grounds that the country all in all believed there should be an equilibrium. This contention would be settled by the Missouri Compromises of 1820, or so the country thought. Struggle broke out between the states, the two states needed to be the greater part expresses, this lead to brutality which lead to the Civil War.
The expanded interest of cotton in the Great Britain and in the Northern conditions of the U.S, was the explanation of the ranches of cotton and tobacco in the U.S South. These states included to Southern states - Virginia, South and North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas. The south was incredible to create those items due to the rich soil. The interest of those items prompted work requests too. So they began bringing more slaves and involving them as a work. In 1793 there was 700,000 slaves and it grew up to 4.5 million out of 1860. Cotton creation each year rose from 1000 tons in 1790 to 1 million tons in 1860, which was 75% was traded to England. In the north, the Free-Northern states was more industrialized so they didn't require the slaves. The northern states had machines at which were utilized to supplant servitude, to work these machines the northern states utilized wage work. This prompted the change from an agrarian to modern culture. The ranchers and laborers transformed into metropolitan inhabitants and modern specialists. Since they paid for work, the slaves needed to come from the south toward the north. This lead to underground railroad entry, and a significant number of taken off slaves attempting to earn enough to pay the rent in the North.