Your capstone course BUS499, which will be taken during your final session, will be conceptually linked to this course as well. In short, this strategic management course is a second in a series specifically developed to assess your analytical decision making, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Your writing and essay delivery skills will also be assessed.

Assignment: Prepare a final paper to prospective investors based on the work you have done to date in this course. In this course you have identified the major mission, vision, and goals; you know the stakeholders; you looked at the organization from a SWOT perspective; and you know what challenges the company faces. What do investors need to know based on your analysis? (This paper is about the Home Depot)

Keep in mind that this SLP submission is the second in a series of three SLP submissions (which are administered in Module 5 of three core courses) and designed to assess your analytical decision making, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Note that your writing and delivery skills are also assessed.

For guidance on writing papers, citing sources, proper referencing, and so forth, visit Trident’s Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper.

SLP Assignment Expectations

In this paper, your ability to think critically and provide insightful analysis is the key. You do not want to just “rubber stamp” the organization and say they are doing great; you want to identify specific areas where they fall short as well as where they do very well. Organize your paper for clarity and document any outside resources.

This paper should include:

An introduction stating the thesis, position, or central theme of your paper, a main body focusing on the key assignment specifications, and a conclusion concisely stating the main points of your analysis and the conclusions you reached.

Document your sources and provide in-text citations whenever you use information obtained from a background reading or other outside source, as well as a separate reference list at the end of the paper. You may use footnotes instead, if you prefer, but you must document where you got the information you are using in your papers.

Your assignment will be graded according to the BSBA Information Literacy Grading Rubric. (To see the rubric, go to Assessments>Rubrics. Click the arrow next to the rubric name and choose Preview.)

The following criteria will also be used to assess your paper:

1. Meets Assignment Requirements: Is it apparent that all writing requirements are specifically addressed?
2. Critical Thinking: Has the student integrated course materials into a well-reasoned presentation of ideas?
3. Writing: Is the paper clear and well written with an academic tone?
4. Use of Sources: Did the student apply recent, relevant sources to support key points?
5. Mechanics: Was the paper properly formatted to include proper use of in-text citations?