Topic: Transforming Hilton Hotels Corporation
SECTION POINTS DESCRIPTION
Title Page
Title of your applied research paper.
Your name, address, email address, and telephone number; course number and title, instructor and date.
Introduction:
Usually a few brief paragraphs suffice to give the immediate background required to set the context. Provide a brief overview of the organization and your role in it. Remote historical data is unnecessary. Determine the essential issues, events, or actions to help frame the problem and subsequent assignment questions to discussion points.
Include a one paragraph overview of your OCI profile if it focused on the same organization. Include a copy of your circumplex.
Identify and clearly state the problem—the leadership/management issue in which an element of the identified organization is not meeting expectations. Remember, that what appears to be the business problem may actually be just a symptom of a bigger problem–dig deep to be sure you’ve identified the real problem/s. As with symptoms of physical illness, if the doctor merely treats the symptoms and doesn’t treat the cause of the problem, the symptoms will persist or return. In sum, be sure to properly frame the problem.
The problem statement is usually phrased in terms of assignment questions to assignment questions to discuss considerably more focused than the subject of the paper. So….End up by stating the problem in the form of a question. For example, if a work group is not performing effectively, an effective problem statement might be “How can group performance be improved?” rather than simply “Poor group performance.”
A well-formed problem statement has four main characteristics:
1. Unity – the problem statement articulates a single controlling idea. The idea may be complex and have several parts, but it shold be one idea nevertheless.
2. Focus – the problem should be restricted and specific enough for the reader to gain a clear idea of the OB topical area and the direction of your study and research.
3. Structure – if the problem statement is sufficiently focused, it will provide a basis for decisions about which information to include and which to exclude from the paper.
4. Interest – the problem statement should sharpen the reader’s interest in the OB topical area of interest.
Food for thought? “If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895-1986, Indian Religious Philosopher
Literature Review:
Conduct research within the literature related to your topic area to expand your knowledge within the specific area of scholarly work relevant to your problem.
More specifically, you must know in detail prior theory and research that have addressed your chosen topic. If you are unaware of relevant prior theory and research, you risk recreating the wheel. Further, a paper that reveals a lack of knowledge of prior work lacks credibility. You should address no less than 4 scholarly resources in this section. Stay away from textbooks as your primary source.
Reintroduce your research question at the end of this section to provide a smooth transition to the analysis section.
Analysis: In this section, explore the problem in depth and with sophistication.
Provide an identification and description of the causes of the problem/issue. Be sure the causes you identify relate directly to the problem/issue. Be cautious of falling into the trap of accepting the surface diagnosis of your problem. Often times the first diagnosis is merely the manifestation of the symptom. Look for the deeper underlying cause.
A critical element of the strength of this section is to apply LOB concepts and models from our text, from class assignment questions to discussions, and from your literature review. assignment questions to discuss the concepts, ideas or insights that are most valuable in helping you make sense of the causes of the leadership problem. Support your analysis with reference to appropriate research and to illustrations of how the causes manifest in the focal organization.
Avoid the tendency to rush in and focus on the surface behaviors or issues without considering the underlying forces, values or assumptions driving those behaviors or issues. It’s important we consider not just how to cure the problem (“single-loop” learning), but that we explore what has allowed the problem to develop unchallenged in the first place (“double-loop” learning ).
Avoid this common problem?Drawing conclusions without the supporting arguments. Here’s an example: “XYZ’s process of [blank] did not support [concept a] and therefore failed to support [concept b].” This will work ONLY if the supporting framework is in place…why doesn’t the process support concept a? Why does not supporting a necessarily mean no support for b? Support comes from both your analysis and the materials (e.g., literature review, text, and course materials).
Solutions: To make an informed decision, you need choices. Alternatives are these choices. After weighing the merits of a variety of alternatives, you will be in a better position to make the best decision for a given situation. In the absence of alternatives, people are faced with a yes-or-no choice: Should we do this or not? That’s not much of a choice, and it rarely produces an effective decision. Remember, if there are no alternatives, there is no decision (solutions).
Suggest consequences to the organization in 3-5 years if nothing is done differently or no actions are taken to address the causes of this problem.
Recommend a more desirable state of affairs (behaviors); compare this state to what happens if no changes are made; and propose at least two action steps that will leverage the organization toward the more desirable state. Describe exactly what should be done and how it should be done, including by whom, with whom, and in what sequence. Always explain your thinking behind your final solution set. It’s important to be clear about why a particular alternative (solution) was chosen, as opposed to others.
Reflection: Think about this assignment and write a well-thought out reflective statement about how this assignment influenced your personal, academic, and professional leadership and managerial development.
References: You must use no less than 8 resources outside your textbook.
All references must be cited in two places: within the body of your paper and on a separate reference list. Choose references judiciously and cite them accurately. Refer to Writing the Research Paper: A Handbook to understand how to cite sources appropriately. Cite all sources using APA format.
Citing an author’s work within your text documents your research, identifies the source for readers, and enables readers to locate the source of information in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper. To use the ideas or words of another person without crediting the source is plagiarism. Plagiarism in its purest form involves copying passages either verbatim or nearly verbatim, with no direct acknowledgment of the source. The most common (and unconscious) form of plagiarism is to paraphrase a direct quotation. Paraphrasing does not relieve you of the obligation to provide proper identification of source data. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to make sure all quotes, ideas, or conclusions not your own are given proper acknowledgment in your text.