Posted: June 29th, 2015

Business publications.

Business publications.

6.        REEARCHPROJECTANDTERMPAPERINSTRUCTIONS

Introduction

1.   In order to facilitate learningof thecoursesubject,this course requires eachstudent to conduct a first-hand field research onan off-campus local business or non-profit organization with50 ormore employees.

2.  Theresearchproject isexpectedtoturnoutacomprehensivetermpaperonthe company’smanagementpractices. Thetermpapershouldbe3,000– 3,500words (excludingreferences,tables,andotherattachments)anddueon Thursday,July2,11:59pm.

3.  Thetermpapercomposes20pointsofthe finalgrade(standard100points).

TheTermPaper

1.  Thetermpaperneedsyou toapplymajortheoriesinthecoursetoyourtarget organization’ssituation.It isexpectedtocomposesixmajorparts,whichthemes,topics, andlengthsaredescribedinthetableintheendofthisInstructions.

2.  Thepapershouldbesolidlybasedonthoroughunderstandingoftextcontentsinthe first place.Inaddition, specificpresentationofthetargetorganization’spractices(suchas examples)onallthoseaspectsshouldbeemphasizedovergeneraldiscussionofthose topics.

3.  Inordertoapplythetheoriesin thetext,theresearchalsoneedsinformationfrom the followingthreemajorsources:

Firsthand data.Youarerequiredtointerviewatleastonemanagerat thetop,middle, andfirst-linelevelsrespectively(totalinterviewees:3).Detailed notesneed tobetaken duringinterviews.Recordinginterviewconversationwiththeinterviewee’spermission ispreferable.Theinterviewee’sname,contactinformation,jobtitle,andtenureatthe companyaswellasinterviewtimeanddurationarealsoexpectedtobeprovidedinthe finalpaper.Youarealsoencouragedto useinformationfromyoursystematic observationoftheorganization’sbusiness on site.

Business publications.Eachpaperisexpectedtouseatleast10referencesofbusinesspublicationsrelatedtoitstargetorganizationfrompublicsources.YoumaysearchISU library’sonlinecatalogforbooksandonlinedatabase2(suchasEBSCO,ProQuest,and Lexis-Nexis) forarticles.ArticlesfrompopularbusinesspublicationssuchasWallStreet Journal,BloombergBusinessWeek,Fortune,Forbes,andTheEconomistaswellas
localnewspapersarepreferred.Thequalityofthearticlesusedasreferenceswillbe takenintoaccountfortheevaluationofthepaper.

Organizationalwebsiteanddocuments.Usinginformationonanorganization’sweb siteandcorporatedocumentsisoptional.Thistypeofinformationcanbeusedonlyif theyarerephrasedwithyourownlanguage(My language is Arabic)andappropriatehyperlinkand/orreferences

2Callthelibraryreferencedesk(237-2580)forhelponhowtousethosedatabasesifneeded.
areprovided.Besides,theinformation shouldbecautiouslyusedandtreatedinaway
similartothecompany’scommercials.

4.  Forthetermpaper,logicalstructure,in-depthanalysis,creativeinsights,andgood integrationofcoursematerialsarehighlyemphasizedforgrading.Besides,thepaperis expectedtouse12-pointfont,doublespacing,andreferencestylesandother formatsfor undergraduatesrecommendedbyeitherAPAorMLA.Itshouldalsobesubmittedas MSWordfilesratherthanMSWorksfiles(i.e.,“.wps”filesareunacceptableandwill notbegraded).SeetheGradingCriteriaforWritingAssignmentsinthisDossier.

5.  Thetermpaperisexpectedtobeyouroriginalproductof fieldresearch.Youare encouragedtousefirsthanddata,i.e.,informationcollectedthroughpersonalinterview, observation,survey,etc.Existinginformationfromonline/website,corporate documents,and/orpublicationsmaybeusedonlyiftheoriginalcontentshavebeen appropriatelyrephrasedwithyourownlanguageandappropriatereferencesandcredits areprovided.Otherwisethepaperwouldbetreatedaccordingtothe University Standards(3.01).

ContentGuidelinesfor theTermPaper

Part
Theme
RequiredTopics    Expected
Length
(words)
1    Introduction    ?Theorganization’scurrentsituation(e.g.,name,location,
website,ownership,industry,mainproducts/services, sales(orannualbudget),employeeand managersizeand composition,etc.)
?    Theorganization’shistory(e.g.,yearofestablishment, majorownership/leadershipchange,etc.)
?Theorganization’sexternalenvironment(i.e.,general
environmentandtaskenvironment)
?Theorganization’sculture(e.g.,artifacts,values,
assumptionsandbelieves,etc.)    300-400
2    Planning    ?Missionstatementoftheorganization
?Theimportanceofplanningtotheorganization
?Goalsandplansatdifferentlevelsintheorganization
?Theimportanceofcertainty,risk,uncertainty,and
ambiguitytotheorganization’sdecisionmaking.
?    Utilizationofdifferentdecisionmodelsinthe organization.    600-700
3    Organizing    ?Theorganizationalchartoftheorganization
?Theimportanceoforganizingtotheorganization
?    Characteristicsoftheorganization’sverticalstructure (e.g.,chainofcommand,centralizationvs. decentralization,etc.)
?Theorganization’stypeofdepartmentationandits
advantagesanddisadvantages
?    Therelationshipsbetweenthe organization’sstructure anditsstrategy,environment,technology,and workflow.    600-700
4    Leading    ?Theimportanceofleadershiptotheorganization
?    Theprimaryleadershipstyleintheorganizationandits advantagesanddisadvantages    600-700

?Theprimarymotivationapproachesforemployees
usedbytheorganizationandtheireffects
?    Teamworkandemployeeempowermentinthe organization
5    Controlling    ?Themeaningandimportanceofcontroltothe
organization
?Themanifestationoffeedbackcontrolintheorganization
?Budgetarycontrolintheorganization
?    Financialcontrolapproachesusedbytheorganization andtheirprosandcons.
?ImplementationoftotalQualityManagement(TQM)
techniquesintheorganization.    600-700
6    Conclusion    ?Yourgeneralcommentsandsuggestions onthe
organization’smanagementpractices.    300-400

MGT301.302DocumentDossier,21of23
7.        LITERATURESEARCH GUIDE

Thefollowingisabrief,step-by-step guidethathelpsyousearchliteratureforyourgroup paper.Ifyouneedmoredetailedassistanceorhaveanyquestions,please contactmeora businesslibrarianat http://lib.indstate.edu/about/staff/subjects.asp.

1.  Goto http://lib.indstate.edu/(ISU’sCunningham MemorialLibrary)

2.  Inthesection“ForStudents,”click Electronic Resources (e-journals, e-books,databases)

3.  ChooseEBSCOhostunder“RecommendedDatabases”

4.  EnteryourSycamoreusernameandpasswordifprompted

5.  Choose BusinessSearching Interface(thethirdoneonthelist)

6.  ClickAdvancedSearch(themiddlebuttonundertheblankfield)

7.  Enterthenameofthecompanyyouarestudyinginthe firstblankandchoose“TX All
Text”inthesecondblankonthesamerow.

8.  Clickthe“Search”button.

9.  Youmaywanttotryotherkeywords(thanthecompany’sname)andfields ofsearch, suchasusingkeywords“employeemotivation”in“SUSubjectTerms”orin“AB Abstract”.Ausefultipisthatyoumaywanttostartwitheitherthe fieldABorSUand thentrythefieldTXifthefirsttwofieldscannotproduceenough goodliterature.

10.Youmayalsosetconditions,e.g.,ANDWallStreetJournalin“SOSource”,sothat
youcanfindthosearticleswithyourkeywordsincertain publication only.

11.Onesearchmayproducehundredsofarticles.Youneedtoskimtheirpublicationtitles andabstractstoidentifythosereallyvaluableforyourtermpaper.Fortheminimum literaturerequirement,youprobablyneedtoskimoverahundredarticles-youcandoit prettyquicklyassoonasyouknowhowthesearchworks.

12.Themostvaluablearticlesarethosethata)focusonyourcompanyand/orthetopicof yourresearch;and2)arepublishedbypopularbusinessmagazinesandnewspapers, suchasHarvardBusinessReview,TheWallStreetJournal, BloombergBusinessweek, Fortune, andTheEconomist.Inadditiontotradearticlesin popularbusiness publications,academicarticlesinresearchjournals(especiallytheirliterature review part)mayhelpyoubetterunderstandtheconceptualbackgroundofyourresearchtopic.
8.        GRADINGCRITERIAFORWRITINGASSIGNMENTS3

Integration
?Appliesideasfromthereadingstoissuesinthepaper.
?Theapplicationofconceptsclarifyissues/problemsinthesituation.
?Applicationofconceptsshowsanaccurateunderstandingofthereadings.
?Thesourceoftheideaisclearlydocumented(e.g.,Bennis(19xx)arguesthat…Or
NadlerandTushman’s(19xx)modeloforganizationisapplied).

LogicandContent
?Claims,argumentsandpropositionsarespecificandclearlystated.
?Claimsprovideaconsistentviewpointthroughoutthepaper.
?Claimsaresupported withevidence(facts, statistics,quotes).
?    Objectiveevidence(facts,statistics)ratherthanauthorityorpersonalexperiencesisused often.
?    Explanationisprovidedwheretherelationshipbetweenclaimandevidenceisnot obvious.

OrganizationandStructure
?Identifiesthecentral idea(thesis)intheintroduction.
?    Headings,subheadingsandindentations/spacingareusedtohelp guidethereader throughthepaper.
?    Eachparagraphhasatopicstatementidentifyingitscentralideasandtheothersentences alsodealwiththiscentraltheme.
?    Theconclusion summarizesthearguments,iscongruentwithyourintroductionand providesnewinformation.

Writing
?Thelengthofthesentencesarevariedtoavoidmonotony.
?Unnecessarywordsareeliminatedandinterposesavoided.
?Definite,specificandconcretelanguageisused.
?Unnecessaryandmeanderingrepetitionsareeliminated.
?Thepaperisfreefromgrammaticalerrorsandmisspellings.
?    Thepapershould use12-pointfont,doublespacing,andreferencestylesandother formatsforundergraduatesrecommendedbyeitherAPAorMLA4.
?Allwrittenassignmentsareexpectedto submitas MicrosoftWorddocument(*.doc)
throughBlackboard’sAssignmentfunction. Otherdocumentformatorsubmissionas
emailattachmentisunacceptable.

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