Objective
Research shows that people learn effectively when working on real problems grounded in their own work experience. To this end, our course project is designed to incorporate students' work experience into the learning process in this course.
The project is an opportunity to explore, in-depth, a topic related to the course objectives (TCOs) that is of significance to you or your organization (current or former).
Summary
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Members of the class are required to prepare an applied research paper, with a minimum of 10 pages but not to exceed 12 pages in length (excluding cover page and appendices), on a specific issue related to leadership or organizational behavior.
Guidelines
Topic Selection
1. Select a specific organization of interest to you and identify a problem at the firm related to organizational behavior (OB).
2. Think of yourself as an organizational consultant and assume that a key manager has requested a thorough analysis and recommended course of action to resolve an actual organizational problem that will make a difference to the future performance of the organization.
3. Identify which of our TCOs or specific topics in the syllabus are related to the problem you identify.
Research Sources
1. All papers must have a minimum of six scholarly sources cited within the text of the paper and identified in the references section.
2. Additional research sources can be attached in a bibliography.
3. Review the following document for instructions on how to access and use EBSCOhost for your research: EBSCOhost.
Paper Format
1. All papers should be single sided, double-spaced, using a 11- or 12-point font.
2. Length of the paper to be between 10 and 12 pages, not counting cover page and appendices.
3. The first page should include the title of the work, student name, address, telephone and e-mail address, course number, date, and instructor name.
4. Follow APA style for general format and citations.
5. Paper sections must adhere to the guidelines below and each section must be labeled in the text.
6. Language should be clear, concise, and precise.
7. Tone should be professional, consistent, and not filled with jargon.
8. Grammar and syntax (sentence structure) must be correct.
9. Report must be free of misspellings and typos.
Tables and Figures
1. All figures and tables must be referred to in your text before they appear on the page.
a. Figures and tables should appear on the same page as or the page after the text that refers to them.
2. All figures and tables need captions. Captions go below figures and above tables.
Quotations and Citations
1. Quotations and citations are crucial components of a research paper and must be present.
2. Failure to properly cite research sources and borrowed ideas is plagiarism.
3. Refer to APA style guide for assistance with properly citing quoted and/or borrowed materials and ideas.
Milestones
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ACTION REQUIRED
Familiarize yourself with course content and select an organization and problem area to research.
Brief Proposal of Research containing the following:
1. A brief overview of the chosen organization and your role in it
2. Preliminary problem statement in the form of a researchable question
3. A brief narrative description of the organizational problem that you would like to research and resolve
4. Which TCO or textbook topic your problem is related to
Conduct library research on your topic.
1. Identify a minimum of six scholarly resources for your project.
2. All resources for the paper must come from the library and must be of scholarly quality.
3. Use the librarians for assistance in accessing materials.
4. Review the "using EBSCO" tutorial.
Articles found online (many on consulting company websites, Internet magazines, or other blogs) will not be considered an acceptable scholarly resource. Conduct your research through a library where you can be assured that the sources are of scholarly quality.
Expanded Research Proposal containing the following:
1. Documentation of at least three initial scholarly sources from the library
2. Expanded introduction to the organization
3. Expanded description of your chosen problem
4. Preliminary solution options (bulleted)
5. Preliminary analysis of leadership and organizational behavior concepts addressed in the paper
Continue to work on class project; seek instructor help as required.