TESU BSBA Capstone - Case Study

[Merlin]

My first Case Study I got a 95/100 and it was 5 pages double spaced which included a cover page and reference page. I have the questions that go with the case study in numbered format and write my answer under each question (1. question. a) (indented) answer). That format seems to be working so far.

I'm doing something similar in my case studies.

[fork]

"The case should be a comprehensive case analysis, not a series of questions and answers" That's what it says in module 1. I'm not sure what "Please limit your analysis to 4 pages (1000 to 1100 words)" means, but I assume that's what is wanted. The first one due on Sunday, which is not even a week to work on it. Then the next one the next Sunday. Plus reading, discussion forums, study for a midterm, and write a final project. This is insane for one class. Even if I dropped everything in my life and focused only on this, which I would have to do, I have doubts. I'm not a fast reader, especially when it's expansive, bland and boring like this book. Who writes this garbage? Half of this is completely meaningless. It could be condensed to plainer language. Sorry for the rant I am exhausted.

When I say you can use Q&A format, I meant to say that a proper essay isn't required. However, each question can be answered on its own. Each case study builds on the information you learned in the chapter associated with that module. So you just need to synthesize what you learned and use it to answer each of the questions. It takes a bit of analysis, a bit of research (mainly just enough to reflect any recent company changes), and a little time.

The 4 pages bit is just a target (1000-1100 words is the average word count for 4 pages). I think the wording is to discourage you from writing too short or too long of a paper. If you can properly address each question in 3 pages then go for it. My papers have been running in the 1200-1700 word range, but I'm a bit wordy and tend to over illustrate. However, I agree that it feels like there is an awful lot of writing here for one course.

I'm pretty sure the first two-week schedule is intended to be a bit rough on purpose to weed out people who aren't ready for this type of course. You'll need to be able to invest at least 10-15 hours per week, possibly more if you're a slow reader or not a strong writer. However, it will take proper time management. It also gets a bit better balanced as you move through the course.

The discussion forums are pretty easy. You can generally get away with a paragraph or two per each topic, and you really only have to respond to two other students posts, and any posts to you by the teacher of course.

IMO, textbooks are all terrible. It feels like only like 25% of the material in any textbook is relevant and the rest is fluff, there to provide perspective, examples, and/or pad the word count. That is one of the reasons I like Study.com so much, they really focus on the core of what you need to know. I didn't enjoy Straighterline for much the same reason, because I thought it was a waste of time to read those huge textbooks when only a small part was relevant.

I can't offer any advice about the midterm of final paper since I'm not there yet, but from what I gather, as long as you study the areas indicated in the study guide, the midterm isn't too rough. I'm planning to start on the paper as soon as I finish the midterm, so I should be able to offer a better perspective after that.

Like you, I was really concerned about whether I'd be able to keep up with this course until after I knocked out the first couple of assignments and got my first grade back. Now that I know how things work a bit better, coming from a self-paced learning perspective, it now feels like the course is moving too slow. Or at least to me, it feels weird to be 4 weeks into a course and not be done yet.

All in all, this is definitely the hardest course I've taken, but compared to the amount of work I've had to put in to get through my degree at the pace I did it in, it isn't that bad. I suspect it should be the same for you.

Worst case, if you are sure you can't manage the time right now, you can still withdraw and get 75% of your tuition back if you do so by December 9th. You can then plan to come back to do it again when your schedule is a bit more conducive to the time requirements.

Am I missing something? I haven't seen a study guide anywhere. Do you mean the syllabus?

[Merlin]

Am I missing something? I haven't seen a study guide anywhere. Do you mean the syllabus?

No, not the syllabus. My course included a separate "Midterm Exam Study Guide" which should be found under the Midterm Exam tab in the course portal (as well as included in the "collected course content" folder at the top of the course portal main page).

The study guide provides a quick summary of the exam structure, sections being tested, and provides a simple outline of the key concepts that are likely to appear on the midterm, along with suggestions on which topics may be included in the essay questions.

As I understand it, the course content varies in each capstone cohort so it is possible that this information is located in your syllabus if it isn't located in the same places it was in my course. Your study guide will likely be different too since your exam may focus on different content areas.

[hrriggs03]

I think the first week was the hardest - not knowing what to expect or what the instructor is looking for. I will say it sounds like a lot but once you get the hang of the formats it’s much easier. My papers have all been right around 1000 words and not in a formal essay format.

[fork]

I'm starting to wonder of the mentor for my class is still alive...

[Merlin]

I'm starting to wonder of the mentor for my class is still alive...

Yeah, mine is really slow too but he does pop on now and then, and I have gotten several case studies graded now. He's still responding to Discussion 3 topics though, while the rest of the group is on Discussion 6-7.

That is a pain since I have all the discussion topics pre-written and am just waiting for folks to catch up. Mid-terms are this week though so I'm focusing on that for now, but once that's done I just have to finish the last case study and start on my final paper.

It sounds like you managed to work through the first week and are progressing through the course now. Hopefully you're enjoying it more.

[fork]

To be honest it's still stressing me out a great deal due to taking so long to figure out what some of these questions are asking. For instance I don't quite know what is wanted in terms of a value chain analysis. The book was so vague on that I have little idea how to do one. I don't see how I will have time to study for the midterm and write the final paper in addition to all this other writing. This class is beyond the undergrad level in my opinion. Not everyone wants to prepare to go to graduate school. I just want to finish the bachelor degree but this is taking a toll for sure. If I can't figure this out faster and work faster I don't think I'll make it to the end.

[Merlin]

To be honest it's still stressing me out a great deal due to taking so long to figure out what some of these questions are asking. For instance I don't quite know what is wanted in terms of a value chain analysis. The book was so vague on that I have little idea how to do one. I don't see how I will have time to study for the midterm and write the final paper in addition to all this other writing. This class is beyond the undergrad level in my opinion. Not everyone wants to prepare to go to graduate school. I just want to finish the bachelor degree but this is taking a toll for sure. If I can't figure this out faster and work faster I don't think I'll make it to the end.

The value chain analysis question threw me for a loop as well, since the process wasn't really documented well (or at all) in the text. That case study took the longest to complete so far, mainly because I had to figure out what it was asking and how to do it. I ended up using some google resources.

For this, what you're basically being asked to do is visually document the value chain of the company, in terms of providing the details that are discussed in figure 4.3 (p. 100) in the text. Basically, it comes down to looking at the company and mapping the various company activities to one of the primary or support activities and then documenting them with a line item.

I found the following in a web search for how to complete a value chain analysis. This is an example of what the finished product of a value chain analysis should look like. I have no idea what company it is for (most likely its made up since it comes from a tutorial). I mainly used this as a reference and modeled mine to resemble this. I did mine in excel though, so no graphics, just text.



You'll note that this version of the value chain uses different names for the activities; this version uses Michael Porter's defaults, but I used the ones from the book instead. The primary activities are exactly the same, they just use different names for the first and third activities. For the support activities what is listed in the book as General Administration should include what is shown in the example under the Infrastructure and Procurement sections.

That should give you a big leg up on this case study. Once I realized that this is what was being asked for, I was able to walk through the case study details for the company as a reference to replace all the activities listed in the example with ones appropriate to the company and complete the value chain analysis in a few hours.

I hope that helps.

[fork]

Did you evaluate the costs and sales and margin? I thought that was the point of value chain analysis. I decided to just stick what they used in their annual report into a table and called it done. I wonder if we are doing the same cases being only one semester off. This was for Amazon and they do give broad categories of what I would think are the primary and support aspects of the value chain in their report. I decided not to break them down any further than what they had already done, though.

[davewill]

If you're falling behind, be sure to let the mentor know before being late on an assignment. Also know that you can pay for an extension if you need more time to complete the course. Better than failing or ruining your GPA.