Research Paper
Each student is to choose a company and write about the company selected. It will be graded for technical content and from a grammatical perspective. The paper should be about 2,000 words in length. References should be cited throughout the paper and in the reference section.

Research Paper Rubric

Item

Instructions

Total Points

Grammar

10

Title/Table of Contents

5

Introduction

· Provide background information on the company selected for the project, including the website link, financial information (annual sales and profits for the last three years), stock exchange information (if applicable), etc.

· Describe the company’s industry, products/services sold, customer base, and competitors

10

Company’s Organization and Management of Information Systems

· Identify the types of information systems the company uses; if information systems can’t be identified, search to identify systems used by its competitors or that can be purchased for use by the company

· Describe how information systems enhance the company’s business processes [Refer to Chapters 1 and 2 in the text for discussions on business processes]

· Suggest how the company has used information system(s) or technology to achieve a competitive advantage [Refer to Chapter 3 in the text for discussions on using an information system to achieve competitive advantage]

· Identify any ethical and/or social issues in the company’s use of information systems to manage its business

25

Company’s Information Technology Environment

· Describe how the company may upgrade its information technology (IT) infrastructure from time to time [Business benefits and costs of this strategy are referred to in Chapter 5 in the text for discussions on IT infrastructure definition]

· Based on what you have learned about the company, what is your assessment of its ability to effectively secure and protect customer information and privacy?

15

Application of Information Systems to Managing the Company’s Business

· Based on your research and knowledge of the company’s products, services, customers, and markets, briefly describe the company’s supply chain [Refer to Chapter 9 in the textbook for discussions on supply chain management systems]

· Describe some of the company’s e-commerce activities as you see them [Refer to Chapter 10 in the textbook for discussions on electronic commerce and the Internet]

15

Conclusion

· Briefly describe your overall assessment of why information systems are of value for this company

10

References

· A minimum of five references should be cited throughout the paper and referenced at the end of the paper in the References section; all sources should be cited in APA format

10

Total

100