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.