QSO 321 Project Guidelines and Rubric
Competencies
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
- Recommend operations management methods and techniques to increase value for customers
- Evaluate how operations management generates value for an organization
- Explain local, national, and global sustainability in relation to functional areas of business
Scenario
You work as the chief supply-chain officer at the large international corporation, NationaliTeas. NationaliTeas manufactures and sells tea worldwide. Its motto is “Keeping people and their taste buds awake (when they want to be awake).” Its mission is “Make the world more awake through rejuvenating and refreshing beverages and sustainable practices that uplift workers, communities, and souls.” Its vision is “to be the most respected tea manufacturer across at least three continents for our tea and our actions, which will be driven by a commitment to ethical sourcing, minimal waste, and empowerment of our employees.”
You would like to establish an operational goal of having your corporation apply for a B Corp Certification within the next two years. You believe this would add value to the organization and help it to prioritize a stronger focus on sustainable operational practices. You have conducted a preassesment based on the recommendations for applying for B Corp Certification, and you have evaluated the corporation’s existing strengths and areas for improvement.
Now you need to develop a proposal for the board of directors that explains why prioritizing the triple bottom line (TBL) through working toward B Corp Certification has organizational value. You must also propose three high-impact initiatives to help strengthen the corporation’s commitment to people, planet, and profit based on your evaluations.
Directions
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Part One: Justification of Benefits: Justify the value of intentionally increasing incorporating the TBL framework into organizational decision making. Identify how ethical business practices regarding people, planet, and profit can benefit society, the environment, and the company’s profit. Specifically, address the following prompts:
- Key Components: Explain the three key components of the TBL framework and how each component benefits businesses and society.
- Organizational Value: Provide a justification regarding the value and benefits of using the TBL framework to inform corporate decision making and explain connections between the organizational mission and the organizational vision.
- B Corporation Benefits: Briefly describe the organizational benefits of attaining B Corp Certification.
- Part Two: Operational Recommendations: Read the “Project Preassessment Evaluation Summary” which is linked in the Supporting Materials section below for each aspect of the TBL (people, profit, and planet). You will need to provide a detailed description of the initiatives that will create the needed improvement. You should note the organizational and societal value of the initiative along with the operational management techniques recommended to plan and complete each initiative. For each of your three initiatives, address the following prompts:
- Organizational Impacts: Describe the organizational benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include better alignment to the organization’s mission, vision, and culture statements; increased amounts of funds or resources saved; and improvements to the organization’s brand.
- Societal Impacts: Describe the societal benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include increased community building and positive environmental impact.
- Customer Impacts: Describe the consumer benefits of each selected initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include increased alignment to target markets, improved product access and availability, and improved customer satisfaction.
- Business Risks: Explain the business risks associated with prioritizing, planning, and resourcing each initiative and how these risks will be considered and monitored.
- Operational Management Techniques: Recommend an operational management strategy or technique (for example, project management, lean manufacturing, or Six Sigma) that is appropriate to implement for each selected initiative and explain why.
- Defining Requirements and Scope: Define the requirements for the successful implantation of each selected initiative and its scope. Describe how changes to the requirements and scope would impact timelines, budget, and risk.
- Roles and Responsibilities: Explain the key internal and external stakeholders involved in planning and implementing each selected initiative and why each identified stakeholder is needed to successfully implement the initiatives.
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit your project using one of the two formats listed below. Note that your submission should include both Part One and Part Two of your project. For either format, sources should be cited according to APA style.
- Written Report: Submit a 1,500- to 1,700-word Microsoft Word document.
- Slideshow Presentation: Submit a 10- to 12-slide presentation with speakers notes. Your slideshow should be submitted as a PowerPoint or PDF document. Examples of tools that could be used to create your slideshow include the following programs:
- PowerPoint
- Canva
- Prezi
Supporting Materials
The following resource supports your work on the project:
Reading: Project Preassessment Evaluation Summary
This document presents the results of NationaliTeas’s preassessment for attaining B Corp Certification.
AI Usage
If you use gen AI tools to support your work on this assignment, be sure to follow these AI usage guidelines. You must acknowledge your use of these tools in your work. Guidelines on how to cite AI tools can be found in this Shapiro Library guide.
Project Rubric
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations (100%) | Meets Expectations (85%) | Partially Meets Expectations (55%) | Does Not Meet Expectations (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justification of Benefits: Key Components | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains the three key components of the TBL framework and how each component benefits businesses and society | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding further details and examples to fully explain one or more key components of the TBL | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Justification of Benefits: Organizational Value | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Provides a justification regarding the value and benefits of using the TBL framework to inform corporate decision making and explains connections between the organizational mission and the organizational vision | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding more or more relevant reasons to incorporate the TBL in decision making or further explaining how the TBL helps an organization’s mission and vision | Does not attempt criterion | 5 |
| Justification of Benefits: B Corporation Benefits | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Briefly describes organizational benefits of attaining B Corp Certification | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing further organizational benefits of attaining B Corp Certification | Does not attempt criterion | 5 |
| Operational Recommendations: Organizational Impacts | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the organizational benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include clarifying how each initiative benefits the organization, for example, through alignment to the organization’s mission, vision, and culture statements; increased amounts of funds or resources saved; and improvements to the organization’s brand | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Societal Impacts | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the societal benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each (e.g., increased community building or positive environmental impact) | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include clarifying how completing each initiative benefits society and the positive impact of completing each (e.g., increased community building or positive environmental impact) | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Customer Impacts | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the consumer benefits of each selected initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each (e.g., increased alignment to target markets, improved product access and availability, or improved customer satisfaction) | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include clarifying how each initiative benefits customers, noting the expected positive impact of completing each (e.g., increased alignment to target markets, improved product access and availability, or improved customer satisfaction) | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Business Risks | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains the business risks associated with prioritizing, planning, and resourcing each initiative and how these risks will be considered and monitored | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying more relevant business risks associated with each initiative or adding more detail to clarify the potential risks | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Operational Management Techniques | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Recommends an operational management strategy or technique (e.g., project management, lean manufacturing, or Six Sigma) that is appropriate to implement for each selected initiative, and explains why | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing a stronger rationale to support using the suggested operational management strategy based on the strategy, initiative, and company information | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Defining Requirements and Scope | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Defines the requirements for the successful implantation of each selected initiative and its scope, and describes how changes to the requirements and scope would impact timelines, budget, and risk | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying more critical requirements or more relevant metrics to evaluate the success of the initiatives or the impact of changes to scope on initiative planning and resourcing | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Operational Recommendations: Roles and Responsibilities | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains the key internal and external stakeholders involved in planning and implementing each selected initiative and why each identified stakeholder is needed to successfully implement the initiatives | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying more relevant stakeholders or further explaining the relevance of the identified internal and external stakeholders to the initiatives | Does not attempt criterion | 10 |
| Clear Communication | Exceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 5 |
| Citations and Attributions | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors | Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution | 5 |
| Total: | 100% | ||||