BUS 639 Week 4 Assignment

The Value of Intangible Benefits

[WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 4]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment,

• Read the weekly lecture.
• Read Chapter 9 of Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World.
• Review the DargeanGrix Business Scenariodocument.
• Read the article: The Hidden Value in Your Intangible Assets.
• Review the following: 5 Powerful Ways to Confront Change in the Workplace, ‘Niceness’ Can Hurt an Organization, 8 Ways to Manage Change in the Workplace Effectively, Intangible Benefits Can Play Key Role in Business Case, What Are the Tangible and Intangible Benefits of ERP System?, and What Are Intangible Benefits?

In this assignment, you will construct a justification for the purchase or outsourcing of the technology you would recommend as the solution to the video communication problem described in your Week 3 What It Takes to Be a Champion of Change Video Presentation discussion. Conduct an internet search using the key-word phrase “video conferencing solutions” to identify a solution that might fit the company’s needs.

NOTE: The chosen technology is only a framework and isn’t as important as your justifications using the intangibles you identified in your Week 2 What are Intangibles Worth? discussion, Current Intangible Business Costs assignment, and from reviewing the An Intangible Example document recommended resource.

Using the elements you identified in the DaregeanGrix scenario in Week 2 for justification,

• Build a table with approximate costs associated with each of the elements in the company’s current environment.
  • Some of these should be actual (tangible) costs and some should be implied (intangible) costs (e.g., customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, efficiency, etc.).
• Weigh the tangible costs and the intangible improvements that the new technology will bring to the organization using a narrative format and contextual reasoning.
• Create a justification for the solution using the intangible elements the solution will provide.
• Explain how these elements have a significant impact on the organization, employees, and customers.

Remember that your goal is to be able to justify a possible investment using intangible benefits in a new technology in which there is little in the way of traditional return on investment (ROI) to lean on.

The Value of Intangible Benefits assignment

• Must be at least five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Styleas outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions as well as Writing a Thesis Statement, refer to the Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least five credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirtytutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper guide.
  • Direct quotes are a great way to strengthen assertions and provide support. However, be sure to avoid using excessive direct quotes in lieu of original thought. Direct quotes will not meet the requirement for analysis, application, and critical thinking. Please ensure you do not overuse direct quotes so that you can avoid losing points for this. 
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.