About this Assignment
In this course, you learned about the importance of information systems in business operations. To apply what you have learned in the course, each student will select two NYSE publicly traded, competing companies to research each company’s usage of information systems. Audience: upper-level business students.
Project Prompts
Research and discuss each company’s history of existence, the information systems utilized by each company, and the advantages and disadvantages of employing information systems to manage people, organizations, and technology. Also, include a comparison of the information system types in the analysis and the business purpose(s) of the system. The written assignment should follow APA formatting style. This written research paper should be a minimum of 1,000 words in length and include responses to address the associated questions.
- What is the corporation’s history of existence and what products and/or services does the company offer?
- Each company employs what types of information systems? Such as management information systems, HR systems, transaction processing systems, etc.
- Are there similarities in the business information systems employed by the companies being analyzed?
- How can information systems be used for companies to establish a competitive advantage?
- How does the company use information systems to manage data collection and manipulate data?
Using Sources
Sources for locating the information system(s) employed by a company may include the company’s corporate website, LinkedIn SlideShare website (which details a company’s profile and information systems), corporate SEC filings, and public corporate documents on information system projects and implementation.
You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least three credible, outside sources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and instructor’s name).
- Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
- Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Management. You may use like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and Social Science Research Network to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
If you’re unsure about how to use APA format to cite your sources, please see the following lessons:
Grading Rubric
| Category | Unacceptable (0-1) | Needs Improvement (2-3) | Good (4) | Excellent (5) | Total Possible Points |
| Quality and thoroughness in discussing each company (x2) | The submission was not well-written and lacked detail of company history. | Most of the research findings achieved the basic desired result. | The submission discussed each company in a brief, yet understandable manner | Submission included a detailed company overview and was well-written. | 10 |
| Quality of supporting detail through comparison of each company’s information system (x1) | The presentation of company information systems comparison was vague and lacked associated detail. | Company overviews were insufficient but achieved the desired result. | The company overviews were sufficient, well-organized, understandable, and clearly written. | The company overview exceeded requirements, was well-organized, and clearly written. | 5 |
| Discussion of competitive advantages realized using Information Systems (x2) | Discussion of competitive advantages was not present in the submission. | Discussion of competitive advantages did not include sufficient detail. | The competitive advantages were included with sufficient supporting detail. | Competitive advantages discussion exceeded requirements and included supporting detail. | 10 |
| Mechanics (x1) | Incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and use of standard English grammar that frequently interferes with meaning. | Several instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and/or usage grammar | Few instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage of grammar | No or very few instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage of grammar | 5 |
