Final Project:The Business of Food

Final Project Presentations (300 pts)
Due: Finals Week, June 15-19 (exact finals date TBA)

Prompt and Guidelines:

In groups of three, you will put together and make a 15-20-minute presentation to the class, using visual aids. Notice the plural in there; aids. The most basic visual aid will that you are required to use is a PowerPoint presentation. You must also put together a brief proposal (2-3 pages) with cited research, a poster and a sample menu. You must also hand in a Bibliography (Work Cited page) of researched data used in all documents.

Specifically, you are a group of burgeoning restaurateurs / restaurant owners. You have an idea for a restaurant, you’ve done your research on both the food and the business side, and you need a financial backer. You set up a meeting with a wealthy businessman and his group of lawyers and accountants. You must impress him with both a thorough consideration and outline of the economic aspects, as well as showing him your vision of what the restaurant will look like.

Immediately start research on restaurants and what kind of material goods (from building space to stoves to forks) will be needed and how much things cost (budget!). Those who choose option 2 should to immediately start looking up modern architectural terms, designs, etc. Both groups will benefit from understanding some of the basic/known figures and terms in either the culinary (cooking) or architectural worlds.


Expected Material:

1) Restaurant Concept business proposal

• With restaurant design/concept and other logistical considerations outlined
  
• Discuss menu items and approach towards customers
  
• Explanation/ rationale for concept (why your place will make money)
  
• Researched, thought out points (cited studies)
  
• Address budget concerns; show were money is going!
  

2) PowerPoint with visuals, and main points of proposal highlighted and visualized

• Use of graphics
  
• Use of bulleted points
  
• Clear, readable slides
  
• Prepared team speech to go along with slides
  

3) A poster/advertisement for restaurant that includes graphics, color and appropriate formatting and content choices

• Colors and fonts that fit concept
  
• Important logistical information, appropriate placed 
  
• A memorable slogan and/or content that fits concept
  

4) A sample menu for restaurant

• Content – example food dishes
  
• Design aspects
  

5) Bibliography (Work Cited Page) of research for project

6) One extra technical document – your choice…something group feels is needed for with presentation

7) Other visual/ audio aids: poster-board with restaurant sign; appropriate music (to enhance vision); a company website (this would be impressive and time-consuming, and those with skills and knowledge are encouraged to go with your guts!)

BTS 3: Economic Proposal

Due: Friday, 5/29/2009 


Your task:

After sending the first memo recommending a business venture (BTS 2), your CEO asks to see a follow-up memo from you explaining how our company will integrate the product into its business. His/Her schedule is pretty busy so you need to be clear and concise, using graphics to help out. He/She wants to know a few basics on the suggested use of the other company’s product, including discussion of economic factors. The boss really wants to see some economic studies done within the area 

The basic questions that he’d like addressed in your proposal are (p. 413):

1) What personnel is necessary to go through with the projected integration? How many of the company’s own workers will need to be included in the integration? What kind of personnel? What is the role of the other company, the one whose product your company is going to use?

2) Whose facilities are going to be used – theirs or ours, or both, or someone else’s?

3) What kind of equipment is involved? Are we going to have to buy or subcontract new equipment?

All of these questions should be integrated in your proposal to the CEO. However, you will want to structure your proposal as follows (p. 414-419):

I. Introduction:

a. Explain the product again and how and why using the product will benefit company (What is the opportunity?)
b. Explain the basic structure of the integration/use of the product (What is the scope of the project?)
c. Who would be in charge? This goes along with b., but should be emphasized.

d. Introduction of economic viability (mention a relevant economic study done that you will then explain in the third section of proposal (see below).

II. Proposed Program:

a. Go into more detail about each of the basic questions asked above.
b. Use at least one chart or graph that clarifies your company's projected economic expenses or profits. Here are some options for this graphic:

- Profit of your company, profit of their company’s product, predicted potential profit increase
- Cost of integration versus potential profit increase
- Budget for product integration, which would include projection of how much money is put in manpower, facilities and equipment over next five years. This projection should be a visual representation of the information within the proposal.

III. Economic Research Study

- Section dealing with a current economic market trend relevant to your project 

- Use both writing and a graphic to support the recommendation for doing project.

IV. References or Experience:

- Choose one of these brief sections to end the proposal
o References: source material used for economic projections
o Experience: qualifications of those would will be in charge of overseeing the project

Format Requirements: TWO (2) pages; 10-12 pt font size; Times New Roman font

Agenda Setting: Researching for Appropriate Content

As we discussed within our small groups, the goal of yesterday was to start researching and understanding the company your putting The Interview Script together for.

By gathering as much knowledge as you an about the company, your goal for yesterday was to understand:

1) Who there audience is, and
2)How the company addresses that audience --through it's company goals, through its advertisement, through its press releases.


Creating a Preliminary List of Interview Questions

Some groups have already begun to do so, but here are some rhetorical considerations to make your script strongest.

Content: during an interview, the interviewer may be ask a variety of questions, not all of them in specific regard to your resume. Below are today's prompts to help you come up with different areas for lines-of-questioning that an interviewer might ask a candidate for a position:


1) An competent Interview Script will ask questions that address company needs, company history, company ideology. You've been doing the research on this stuff already, so this first thing your group will do today is to write down at least 5 company-geared questions.


2) Another area for questions might be "expertise" questions. These kinds of questions ask about specific parts of the job, and measure the candidates theoretical and practical knowledge of their "field". Remember: You are looking into the fields of "public relations" OR "marketing," and you are to have started looking into finding, at minimum, some basic information on these fields of study through academic journals and reference material.

You'll have to research, "What does a public relations person do?" Or, "What does a marketing person do?"

If your group hasn't yet, find an article and/or book that gives you a basic understanding.
Write out some of the basic duties and basic field knowledge needed to perform job well.



Planning/ Researching Strategies


Make a second list of field knowledge questions (5-10). If you have time or feel ambitious, start to think back to your first list made today and start making this list of field- knowledge questions more specific towards the job.

Field Knowledge includes two things*:

1. General skill level and knowledge for the general position (lawyer, doctor, public marketing)

2. Specific Area field knowledge within the larger field (International lawyer, criminal lawyer; pediatrician, cardiologist; sports marketing, environmental public relations)

This is important, and you will be graded on how well the content of your group Interview Script reflects having researched and incorporated general field knowledge AND Specific Area field knowledge.

Your group should discuss, and then research, which Specific area your company would be included in.



The Real World: at an interview, one should also ask or expect to be asked questions that relate to what is currently happening -- in the economy, in the field, ...in the global culture.


To this end, it is important to do research through periodicals for trends in the marketplace, and similar areas. To do this, again, you can go to the periodicals-section of your local bookstore (I like Borders sections), but also use the Internet to go to reputable business/new magazines such as the NY Times, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN and The Wall Street Journal.


TIPS:
1) You may want to divide these duties among your group members.


2) When it comes to #3, you may want to discuss as a group what you are looking for when you are reviewing periodicals. What kind of subjects/articles are you looking for? Should the researcher be looking within a certain section?

Agenda Setting for The Interview Script

After settling into which company your group works for to complete The Interview Script, here are a couple of tasks that you are to start doing today within your groups, to help in the research process:

Research – answer a few ?s about the company that are important to pursue:

-        What is the company motto and/or what do they emphasize their company is about?

-        What are some of the general main duties and skills necessary of a person working in the public relations OR marketing aspect of a company?

-        Consider the current culture – what are some possible cultural/ business events that may likely affect your company?

*

1) Go to the Company Website: seek out information from their "about" or "history" section. 

Tip:Have someone on the team draft a professional-looking e-mail inquiry to their human resources department that:

a. explains that you are doing it for a class project, and 

b. you want to know what kind of qualifications and characteristics they look for in hiring someone into their company. Also, ask them You may get a response, you may not, but this is part of the research process. For some help, go to page 117 of our text)

2) Library Research: Expanding beyond the workplace
-Everyone in the group should brainstorm together, and create a list of, various kinds of data and job-related material might be useful when discussing the available position. For example: there are theories, and standard practices and tools used within various fields. When you are about to interview someone, it is helpful to get to know some of what the experts know in that position...so...to the library! (http://www.chipublib.org)

The Interview Script Assignment

The Interview Script (50 points)
Due: Monday, May 4, 2009

Explanation:

For this assignment you are putting yourself in the position of INTERVIEWER. More specifically, you are a Human Resources employee that is assigned to put together an “interview script” by the Human Resources manager; one that (s)he can use to evaluate potential candidates for a position in Public Relations/Marketing.

Further explanation of the kinds of questions and answers you will put together will be listed below. Also, for this assignment, you will be working in small groups of 2-3 people, as you would in the workplace.

You are allowed to choose your own company, which we will do during class time, once small groups are formed.

First steps:
1) First, exchange contact information for communicating outside of class time.

2) As a group, choose an easily researchable company; one whose product each of you is familiar with.

3) To begin your research, search/go to that company’s website and start looking for relevant information on the company’s history and its company goals/motto/beliefs/ core values. The website is usually starting reference point, and sometimes there is an “about” or “history” section where this information is located. Make sure to record this information so you can evaluate and use material for your Interview Script.

4) You will also want to do outside research using the school and public libraries, using interlibrary loans, periodical indexes, and other secondary source material (refer to Chapter 6 of Technical Communications for a refresher).

5) Start creating an agenda for the group to follow in the writing process.

Goals/Requirements:

1) The Interview Script includes both:

a. specific questions appropriate to be asked based on the company and the position being interviewed for, and:

b. exemplary answers that are specifically related to company and to Public Relations/Marketing position, but also to the current economic climate of 2009!

2) The script should be approximately two complete pages, single-spaced, with a minimum of six questions.

3) The script should include researched (and cited) material, both from primary and secondary sources. 

4) Each student will get evaluated both on group work and individual part in putting the script together. (There will be an evaluation form filled out by group members.)