Research Paper Bus MNGT 5000

  
Research paper
In this project, the focus will be on the application of the conceptual ideas central to the course to a specific problem. Posted below is the “Research Project Requirements” document that explains in great detail the requirements for this project. Also posted below is the rubric which will be used to score the research project submitted by each student. Many of the requirements outlined in the first document in regard to plagiarism, sources, and spelling, punctuation, and grammar apply to the weekly case assignments and exercises as well. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions regarding these requirements well in advance of the due date (Tuesday of Week Nine) for this paper. If you are unfamiliar with APA formatting requirements, please visit the University Writing Center, a link to which may be found at www.webster.edu (click on “A-Z” in the lower right-hand corner, then on ‘W’, then on “Writing Center”), or purchase a copy of the APA Manual.
TOPIC – Each student will submit a research project that selects a current management problem and applies one or more principles of management discussed in the class to the problem. One approach might be to discuss how Volkswagen should evaluate its code of ethics and its decision process in the aftermath of the recent emissions-cheating scandal with which it is still dealing.  Another approach might be to discuss the ethics of the performance measures used as a control mechanism at Wells Fargo Bank, and whether the company’s response to the recent allegations of fraud has been sufficient to prevent recurrence. These examples are for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed as a requirement for students to explore these problems. To encourage students to conduct extensive research, as well as to enhance their learning from this project, students may not choose to analyze a problem in their own company or organization (for those on active duty in the military, this means no problems involving their branch of service, another service branch, or the Department of Defense).  To assist in the identification of a suitable problem, students should visit the University Library and review recent issues of publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Economist, Bloomberg Business Week, Financial Times, etc. Use the links on the library’s home page for access to tutorials that can greatly assist you in finding articles in these publications and others. The business section of  your local newspaper is also a good source for such articles as they often discuss problems being experienced by national or international companies that have a local presence.
FORMAT – Your research project must conform to the requirements set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (2nd printing, October 2009), also known as the APA Publications Manual.  The paper should be double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), with one-inch margins at the top, bottom, left, and right of each page. From a content standpoint, all that is required for this course is a title page, Abstract, the body of the paper (10 pages), and references page(s).  If the student chooses to include appendices or tables of information, these should also conform to the APA Publications Manual.  Points will be deducted if these requirements are not met.  APA requires that papers be written in third-person perspective.
The format of the research project should be as follows:
· Title Page;
· Introduction of the Problem;
· Statement of Major Relevant Principles to be Applied;
· Analysis and Application of Principles;
· Recommendation; and,
· References Page
It is expected that the statement of the problem will be drawn from newspapers or newsmagazines, or similar accounts. There should be citations of materials consulted to develop the statement of the problem. At least three sources should be used for the problem statement.
With the statement of major management principles or management conceptual ideas to apply to the problem, there should be an articulation of these principles or conceptual ideas with citation of materials consulted. While the textbook material may be a starting point for the development of this section, the student is expected to go beyond the textbook to do additional research in the literature in the development of these principles or conceptual ideas; thus, the textbook should not appear on your references page or be cited in the paper. In addition, students may utilize no more than two of the articles assigned as course readings as references.
In the analysis section, the student will systematically apply the principles or conceptual ideas to the problem. This is the analysis part of the paper, and it is not expected that new principles or different problems would be introduced here. This is an application section.
The recommendation is expected to be a short section in which the student draws final conclusions from the analysis. The recommendation section might differ from the analysis section in that the analysis should yield more than one option, and the conclusion settles on a preferred option.
ATTRIBUTION TO SOURCE – It is essential that in any research paper each piece of information presented be properly attributed to its source.  If the information you are presenting in the paper is not your original thought, or is not common knowledge, it should be attributed to its source. Material should not be directly quoted or taken in a substantial way from another source without citation or quotation marks. No more than 23% of the paper should be in the form of direct quotes and any such quotes must be indicated and properly cited. Any paper turned in without a single attribution to source (parenthetical references within the text in proper APA format) will automatically lose 100 points.  
REFERENCES – Your list of references should include, at a minimum, six secondary sources you have consulted in your research. While the textbook material may be a starting point for the development of this paper, the student is expected to go beyond the text to do additional research in the literature in the development of management principles or conceptual ideas; thus, the textbook should not appear on your references page. Instead, go to the original source cited in the textbook as it will often contain additional information that may prove useful. All of your sources must be obtained through the Webster University online library resource.
PLEASE NOTE:  Google is not an adequate research tool for academic research. In fact, internet searches will often take you to non-academic information resources such as Wikipedia.com, Ask.com, Encarta.msn.com, Infoplease.com, etc. You should not use such sources in your academic research because they do not come under a formal oversight or peer-review process. To the extent possible, your research should rely on scholarly publications such as books and peer-reviewed academic journals. Further, remember that you are responsible for the accuracy of any facts you present in your assignments and, therefore, should confirm the veracity of information you find on non-academic sources through further research.
PLAGIARISM – You will be required to submit your research project to Turnitin, which is now integrated into the WorldClassRoom and is available for each assignment.  You should ensure that your project receives a minimum of “green” (less than 23% of the paper verbatim from sources). Contact me if you are having difficulty with getting your paper to turn “green”.
The paper is worth 18% of the grade.