SPT 200 Final Project One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
For aspiring sport management professionals, investigating an actual sport organization is a powerful learning opportunity. In this final project, you will choose a sport organization to discover how it operates and thrives in the real world. As you have learned in this course, running a successful sport business is a multifaceted endeavor, requiring knowledge of best practices in the areas of finance, communication and media, and marketing and sales. A manager within a sport organization must understand the differences between these areas, and how they interact. This knowledge is how managers effectively lead their diverse organization toward achieving its mission and goals.
The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The final product will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Identify broad options for improving the financial position of sport businesses by determining possible revenue streams and reasonable cost-saving measures within current legal and regulatory frameworks
Evaluate various communication and media strategies for their potential to ethically promote the brands of sport organizations, build professional networks, and engage sports fans and volunteers
Illustrate the value of utilizing sales data to develop targeted sports marketing strategies based on sound consumer demand forecasts
Prompt
In the final project, answer the following question in your paper: To what extent does your chosen organization exhibit a healthy financial position, effective communication strategies, and a data-driven approach to sales and marketing? Include content from the milestones that has been revised for this final project.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Introduction
Explain your interest in your organization and why you chose it, addressing its appeal both to you personally and to a wider audience. For example, you could explain how your organization exemplifies wider trends or issues in the field.
Create a basic profile of your organization and the business environment in which it operates. Be sure to include enough detail to be able to use it as support in the rest of your paper.
Identify the organizational mission and goals, explaining how they relate to the details in the basic profile you created. You will refer back to these throughout your paper.
Financial Position
Explain the historical and current financial positions of your organization. Provide examples to illustrate.
Identify any untapped revenue streams that your organization might consider, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations. Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
Devise reasonable cost-saving strategies that your organization might employ, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations. Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
Communication Strategies
Describe the media strategies that your organization currently employs, including any presence it has on social media. Provide examples to illustrate.
Explain any ethical considerations your organization takes into account in its communication and media strategies when promoting the brand. Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
Detail how your organization engages in outreach with professional networks and with fans, including how it promotes volunteerism both internally and externally. Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
To what extent is your organization building professional networks? Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
To what extent is your organization engaging fans or encouraging internal and external volunteerism? Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
Sales and Marketing
Describe the overall approach your organization takes in marketing its products and/or services, focusing on how it employs relevant data points in its decision making. Provide examples to illustrate.
Identify your organization’s key consumer demographics, describing how they are targeted in marketing efforts. Be sure to include how the data supports this targeting.
Provide your organization’s sales or other fundraising goals and determine how successful it has been in meeting those goals. Be sure to use the data to support your conclusions.
Conclusion
Overall, based on your analysis, make a reasonable and well-informed claim about the overall health of your chosen organization. Cite specific evidence that supports your position.
Milestones
Milestone One: Draft of Introduction and Financial Position
In Module Three, you will submit a draft of the Introduction and Financial Position sections of Final Project One. This will be based on your research about the financial position of the sport organization you chose from the list provided in the Module One Journal Guidelines and Rubric document. This milestone will be graded with the Final Project One Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Draft of Communication Strategies and Sales and Marketing
In Module Five, you will submit a draft of the Communication Strategies and Sales and Marketing section of Final Project One. This will be based on additional research about your sport organization’s communication and media strategies, as well as its sales and marketing approach. This milestone will be graded with the Final Project One Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Sport Organization Research Paper
In Module Seven, you will submit Final Project One, including the conclusion portion of the project. You will apply what you have learned in this course in order to draw larger conclusions about your chosen organization’s overall health. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product, a sport organization research paper. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project One Rubric.
What to Submit
Your sport organization research paper should be 4–6 pages in length and should use 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
Final Project One Rubric
Criteria Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Introduction: Interest Meets “Proficient” criteria, and details demonstrate an insightful awareness of the organization’s appeal both personally and to a wider audience Explains interest in organization and why it was chosen, addressing its appeal both personally and to a wider audience Explains interest in organization and why it was chosen, addressing its appeal, but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies Does not explain interest in organization 2
Introduction: Basic Profile Meets “Proficient” criteria, and details illustrate a nuanced portrait of the organization and the environment in which it operates Creates a basic profile of the organization and the business environment in which it operates, including sufficient details to support paper Creates a basic profile of the organization and the business environment in which it operates, but does not include sufficient details for supporting paper Does not create a basic profile of the organization 2
Introduction: Mission and Goals Meets “Proficient” criteria and makes cogent connections between the organizational mission and goals and the basic profile of the organization Identifies the organizational mission and goals, explaining how they relate to the details in the basic profile of the organization Identifies the organizational mission and goals, explaining how they relate to the basic profile of the organization, but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies Does not identify the organizational mission and goals or explain how they relate to the basic profile of the organization 2
Financial Position: Historical and Current Meets “Proficient” criteria and illustrates a sophisticated explanation of the financial positions of sports organizations Explains the organization’s historical and current financial positions, providing examples to illustrate Explains the organization’s historical and current financial positions but does not provide illustrative examples Does not explain the historical and current financial position of the organization 10
Financial Position: Revenue Meets “Proficient” criteria, and evidence cited is especially well suited to the untapped revenue streams of specific sports organizations Identifies untapped revenue streams, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations, and supports discussion with specific evidence Identifies untapped revenue streams, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations, but discussion is not supported with specific evidence or contains inaccuracies Does not identify sources of untapped revenue 10
Financial Position: Cost-Saving Strategies Meets “Proficient” criteria, and evidence cited is especially well suited to cost-saving strategies used by specific sports organizations Devises reasonable cost-saving strategies, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations, and supports the discussion with specific evidence Devises reasonable cost-saving strategies, discussing any relevant legal or regulatory considerations, but discussion is not supported by specific evidence or contains inaccuracies Does not devise reasonable cost-saving strategies or discuss relevant legal or regulatory considerations 10
Communication Strategies: Media Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples are especially well suited to illustrating the media strategies employed by the sports organization Describes the media strategies currently employed by the organization, including on social media, and provides examples to illustrate Describes media strategies currently employed by the organization, including on social media, but description is cursory or does not provide illustrative examples Does not describe the media strategies employed by the organization 6
Communication Strategies: Promoting the Brand Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides keen insight into ethical considerations of communication and media strategies of brand promotion by sport organizations Explains ethical considerations the organization takes into account in its communication and media strategies when promoting the brand, supporting explanation with specific evidence Explains ethical considerations the organization takes into account in its communication and media strategies, but explanation is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or is not supported with specific evidence Does not explain ethical considerations the organization takes into account 6
Communication Strategies: Promotes Volunteerism Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides keen insight into communication and promotion of volunteerism within specific sports organizations Details how the organization engages in outreach with professional networks and fans, including how it promotes volunteerism both internally and externally, and cites specific supporting evidence Details how the organization engages in outreach with professional networks and fans, including how it promotes volunteerism, but details are cursory or supporting evidence is not included Does not detail how the organization engages in outreach with professional networks and fans 6
Communication Strategies: Professional Networks Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated approach to evaluating communication and media strategies of sport organizations Makes reasonable and well-informed claims about the extent to which the organization is building professional networks using specific supporting evidence Makes claims about the extent to which the organization is building professional networks, but does not make fully reasonable and well-informed claims using specific supporting evidence Does not make claims about the extent to which the organization is building professional networks 6
Communication Strategies: Engaging Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a sophisticated approach to evaluating communication and media strategies of sport organizations Makes reasonable and well-informed claims about the extent to which the organization is engaging fans and encouraging volunteerism using specific supporting evidence Makes claims about the extent to which the organization is engaging fans and encouraging volunteerism but does not make fully reasonable and well-informed claims using specific supporting evidence Does not make claims about the extent to which the organization is engaging fans and encouraging volunteerism 6
Sales and Marketing: Overall Approach Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples illustrate a nuanced understanding of how data informs effective sports marketing strategies Describes the overall approach the organization takes in marketing its products and/or services, focusing on how it employs relevant data points in its decision making, and provides examples to illustrate Describes the overall approach the organization takes in marketing its products and/or services, but does not focus on how it employs relevant data, or does not provide illustrative examples Does not describe the overall approach the organization takes in marketing its products and/or services 10
Sales and Marketing: Key Consumer Demographics Meets “Proficient” criteria, and examples illustrate a nuanced understanding of how data informs effective sports marketing strategies Identifies the organization’s key consumer demographics, describing how they are targeted in marketing efforts, and supports description with data Identifies the organization’s key consumer demographics, describing how they are targeted in marketing efforts, but response is cursory or not supported with data Does not identify the organization’s key consumer demographics 10
Sales and Marketing: Sales or Other Fundraising Goals Meets “Proficient” criteria, and conclusions are especially supported by cited data Provides the organization’s sales and other fundraising goals and determines how successful the organization has been in achieving the goals, using data to support conclusions Provides the organization’s sales and other fundraising goals, determining how successful the organization has been in achieving the goals, but response is cursory or not supported by data Does not provide the organization’s sales or other fundraising goals or determine how successful it has been in meeting those goals 10
Conclusion Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates deep understanding of the key factors that contribute to the overall health of sport organizations Makes reasonable and well-informed claims about the overall health of the organization using specific supporting evidence Makes claims about the overall health of the organization, but does not make fully reasonable and well-informed claims using specific supporting evidence Does not make claims about the overall health of the organization 2
Articulation of Response Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas 2
Total: 100%