System Studies Essay

SMS 415 essay question:
What are the accounting implications of using open source software?
Explanation of the quesiton:
If a company uses a piece of open source software and adds some functionality how
should that work be accounted for? Another example: If a company uses Apache
Haddoop-(http://hadoop.apache.org/) as a core component of its business, what is the
accounting treatment of Apache Hadoop?
Spelling and grammar matters.
The essay counts for 10% of the final grade.
The grading rubric is found below. It explains what is expected.
SMS415 Project Rubric
SMS 415 Project Rubric, worth 10% of final grade
Criteria Ratings Pts
This criterion is
linked to how well
the question is
answered
5.0to >4.0pts
A
Question is clearly
answered and well
researched.
Organizations would
want to use this
report to guide their
accouting practices
around open source
software.
4.0 to >3.0 pts
B
Question is answered
and researched.
Organizations may
want to use this report
to guide their
accouting practices
around open source
software.
3.0 to >1.5pts
C
Question is partially
answered and
somewhat researched.
Organizations may find
this report useful to
guide their accouting
practices around open
source software if it
receives more work.
1.5to >0pts
D or below
Question is partially
answered. The
reasearch is
inadequate.
Organizations would
not find this report
useful to guide their
accouting practices
around open source
software. It would
need alot of work for
it to be useful.
5
SMS 415 Project Rubric, worth 10% of final grade
Criteria Ratings Pts
This criterion is
linked to the
Literature Review
10.0 to >8.0pts
A
Literature review
contains at least five
scholarly/nonacademic sources.
Findings and
contributions are
clearly presented, and
the sources are
appropriate for the
research topic.
8.0 to >6.0pts
B
Literature review
contains at least five
scholarly/nonacademic sources.
Findings and
contributions are
mostly presented,
and the sources are
appropriate for the
research topic.
6.0to >4.0pts
C
Literature review
contains at least five
scholarly/nonacademic sources.
Findings are somewhat
presented, but their
contributions and
appropriateness are
unclear.
4.0to >0pts
D or below
Literature review
contains less than
five scholarly/nonacademic sources.
Findings and
contributions are not
clearly presented
from literature
review. Sources are
not appropriate.
5
Format: 4 pages maximum. (excluding references/title page) double-spaced, 12-pt,
Times New Roman, APA-style, Word doc. form
Please structure your research proposal under the following headers:
Introduction ( 0.5-1 page)
 Describe/contextualize the project question you are focusing on (you may use
non-academic or gray sources to assist with this description (e.g. news articles,
policy documents, etc.))
 Clearly state why the question is important
Literature Review and Discussion of Question (1-2 pages)
 Review what five relevant peer-reviewed or gray sources have to say about
the question.
Conclusions (0.5-1 page)
 Clearly present your conclusions and recommendations.
References
 Include a list of all the references you utilized for your proposal in APA format
 This includes the sources for your literature review and the course textbook, as
well as other external academic/non-academic sources