Group Project – Research and Development Team
The group project is an exercise in group presentations. For this assignment the group will be taking on the role of a research and development team for a company, existing or fictional. This will then presented to Prof. Salisbury who will serve as the fictional CEO or President of the company.
The project will consist of a formal presentation, using both Power Point or some other presentation software and a development package. The package will consist of an overall layout of the presentation itself, a summary of each area’s information, as well as any additional information provided with the presentation. It will also include a financial statement with 5 year budget. The group/development packet will be a written summary of the total project, laying out the research and development, 4 -6 pages, double spaced and appropriately cited. Each member of the group must also submit an individual summary must be 1- 3 pages as well as peer evaluations of their fellow group members.
A copy of the Power Point is not required.
Here are the suggested elements that can be presented but each presentation will be developed to the specific product or service chosen. Not all projects may require all these elements. Only the financial portion is required.
Marketing
Example: Market Survey
Competition
Anticipated volume years 1 through 5
Product literature
Sales
Packaging and product displays
Pricing (including volume discounts)
Example: Sales Staff
Sales Expenses
Salaries
Commissions
Distribution
Transportation
Example: Warehousing
Transportation (from manufacturing to warehousing, and from
Advertising warehousing to wholesaler/retailer)
Example: Ad Agency
Television
Radio
Direct Mail
Billboard

Newspaper
Magazine
Other (Specify)
Manufacturing
Example: Facilities
Preexisting or new
Assembly
Tools
Dies
Land
Building
Purchasing (Supply)
Example: Raw Materials
Subassemblies (if any)
Packaging and display
Shipping Containers
Finance (CFO)
Complete summary of expenses for years 1 through 5.
Anticipated profit/loss years 1 through 5.
While the project is asking for financials, the actual numbers are not required to be accurate to the dollar. The focus of the project is the presentation, not the financial report.
Each department will provide complete budget information to the Finance Department for inclusion in the finance summary.
Each department will provide complete appropriate documentation to the CEO in a finished package.
Each department will have and use appropriate visual aids for their formal presentation.
Departments will coordinate their research and presentations in areas of overlap.
The total presentation must be at least 20 minutes and shall take no more than 40 minutes.
Care must be taken to see that each department has adequate (and equal) time to present its portion of the presentation. Care must also be taken to see that the important information is presented to the CEO within the time allotted for the department’s portion of the presentation. Any additional material not referred to in the presentation must be included in the department’s package.

Each department’s presentation will be graded for organization and completeness of content.
The group portion of the project will be graded on the following criteria:
Organization = 25%
Appropriate and complete presentation package = 25%
Appropriate visuals = 10%
Presentation = 40%
Three grades will be given for the project; an individual grade (this will include the individual summary and individual portion of the presentation), a peer evaluation grade, and a group grade. The peer evaluation grade shall be determined through each individual grading everybody’s participation (except their own) in the project. I expect complete honesty when grading each other as well as grading yourselves. If I disagree with your grading, I will want to know why there is a discrepancy. Failure to provide the peer evaluations will result in a penalty of 15 points from the individual grade.
The CFO will be the moderator of the presentation and shall be responsible for coordination and timing of the presentation.