The Collaborative Writing Project (CWP) is a group assignment that is designed to hone students’ oral and written communication skills, as well as their social skills. Students will prepare a formal report, individual memo and an oral presentation (accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow) on the topic described below.
THE TOPIC
You and your team of professional accountants have been hired by Mike MacCloud to provide his new business with accounting services. Mr. MacCloud has just decided to create his own wine label, and he and a group of three investors have a few accounting questions that they need you and your team to answer. Mr. MacCloud formerly worked in the operations side of the wine business, and while he does have a lot of “on the job” knowledge about accounting, he did not study accounting formally. Of the three investors, only two are knowledgeable in accounting. The third investor is an attorney who specializes in corporate finance.
Mr. MacCloud and his investors would like you to provide a formal report that sets forth the answers to his accounting questions, along with an oral presentation of the report’s findings. The committee would also like the oral presentation to include a PowerPoint presentation.
Mr. MacCloud’s questions are number 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 as noted on the attached case study from Harvard Business School.
RESEARCH
Please use the information presented in the attached case study from Harvard Business School. Make sure to use these facts to support all relevant aspects of your proposal. You may conduct independent research. If you conduct independent research, however, please include references and use Appendix 8-D of our textbook.
COMPONENTS
The CWP will consist of the following: 1. A formal report of at least 6 but no more than 10 full pages. [75 points] 2. An INDIVIDUAL summary of your experience working with the group, written in memo format. This memo should address the workload, division of labor, and your general feelings of working with this group. [25 points] 3. An in-class 15-20 minute PowerPoint and oral presentation that summarizes the main points of the formal report. [50 points]
The formal report must include a title page, a one-page executive summary, table of contents, at least three chapters in the body, and a conclusion/recommendations chapter. Please note that the title page and the table of contents will not count towards the six-page minimum.
The oral presentation/PPT should last about 15 minutes. Each team member must speak for a minimum of three minutes. The total time for the oral presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. You will be penalized if you go over 20 minutes. After your oral presentation, you should allow for a brief Q&A. Your goal for the oral presentation is to know the content in an organized way and to be able to share your knowledge in a clear fashion. Please do not memorize a script or read the PowerPoint slides. Please do not use note cards.

GRADING
The formal report will be graded in accordance with the standard rubric for written work.
The oral presentation will be in graded in accordance with the rubric attached to this assignment.
All group members will receive the same grade for the report and oral presentation. Your memo will be graded individually.

DUE DATES
11/30 or 12/2: CWP ORAL PRESENTATIONS (3 groups on 11/30 and 2 groups on 12/2).

WORKING COLLABORATIVELY
Please think carefully about your role on the team and how to work with others effectively and efficiently. I highly recommend building a timeline early in the process and preparing a “Plan B” in case of “emergency.” Just as in the workplace, some team members will be more reliable than others, and there will be times that you might feel that the allocation of duties is unbalanced. Unfortunately, just as in the workplace, individual martyrdom will likely be overlooked and underappreciated. Thus, rather than bemoaning the lack of participation of a team member, make sure early on that everyone communicates about deadlines, duties, and priorities. In other words, I would like for this to be yet another opportunity for students to act professionally.

GRADING RUBRIC FOR ORAL/PPT PRESENTATION Criteria | | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent | Score | Introduction (5) | | Underdeveloped and/or irrelevant | Makes audience curious about topic | Grabs audience’s attention immediately | Intro is original, intelligent, and audience-appropriate | | Supporting Material(10) | | Generalized or inappropriate with no relevance to topic | Lacks adequate development and logic. | Logical and relevant. Includes related examples. | All positions backed by specific evidence – displaying superior control of content | | Transitions(5) | | Incoherent or non-existent | Divides topics into subtopics but audience is unclear as to how topics relate | Topics and subtopics are organized in a logical manner | Smooth and natural transactions among topics and speakers. No logical gaps. Little or no reliance on metadiscourse. | | ConclusionsRecommendations(5) | | Abrupt ending | Logical but needs additional development | Satisfying review of highlights and next steps | Outstanding topic review and presentation of recommendation(s). Strong sense of closure. | | Effective Language and Delivery(20) | | Muddled meanings, ineffective articulation | Generally clear but some articulation issues | Clear and appropriate word choice and expressions. Few grammatical errors. | Clear, distinctive. Maintains audience attention. Seemingly natural and spontaneous delivery. Displays mastery of body language. | | PPT(5) | | Misleading or distracting content and graphics | At times confusing and sometimes conflicts with oral presentation | Clear content but sometimes competes with or detracts from oral presentation | Clear, concise and easy to read and understand. Content compliments and enhances oral presentation | |

For each group member who does not present for at least 3 minutes, there will be a 2 point deduction. For each group member who uses note cards, there will be a 3 point deduction.