The purpose of this assignment is to provide practice with researching a topic of professionalism in the workplace, preparing a written or video report, and presenting strategies to help young business professionals in managing challenges in the workplace.
This assignment is worth up to 150 course points.
You may choose from any one of the following topics:
1. Managing and working with different personality types (excluding conflict management)
2. Best practices for use of technology in business communications
3. Conflict management in the workplace & dealing with difficult colleagues
4. Workplace and business events etiquette (including business meals/dinners)
5. Effective negotiations (include salary negotiations)
6. Strategies for managing teams in the workplace (excluding meetings)
7. Ethical decision making and its relationship to business communication
Follow guidelines in Chapter 10. Decide on your title (which is not necessarily the same as the topic).
Part 1: Problem Definition
Clearly identify the topic you’ve chosen at the beginning of your work (early in the paper or or presentation.) Describe the problems or challenges associated with your topic, or a rationale as to why the topic is important. Challenges may be from the customer, employee, or employer point of view. State what the audience should gain from the research and presentation. For example, young business professionals may not have enough exposure early in their lives to know the rules of etiquette for a business dinner.
Part 2: Research
For the Research, follow recommendations in Chapter 8 of the textbook in class and the following:
Conduct secondary research. For the secondary research, identify relevant print/digital sources. Be sure your sources are credible (3As: authorship, accuracy, age).
Primary research is optional but will be rewarded in the grade if done properly. Identify several solutions to the problems you identified in your problem definition. Make use of credible sources such as company/industry trade magazines or articles, peer reviewed journals, and case studies.
If using primary research, you are to interview one expert in your subject area. For example, this could be someone with background in planning business dinners (like an event planner) or it could be a business person who has been attending business dinners for years. Include a section in the paper which summarizes your research process: including who you interviewed (name/title/contact information), when (date, time, length of interview), the list of questions you asked (must be at least 5 questions), and examples of 2-3 direct quotes from their answers in the interview (exact wording of the answers, not a summary or your interpretation of what they said).
Include citations on a works cited page, according to MLA standards, on both papers and presentations. Cite everything that is not common knowledge to your audience in both the paper and presentation slides. Cite all print/digital sources and also cite the person you interviewed.
You must go beyond superficial information that everyone knows. You are also going to need to include relevant charts/graphs/tables in your work. Each paper/presentation needs to include a minimum of one chart/graph/table and it must be labeled and cited appropriately. It is expected you will have at least four references, in addition to the textbook for the class. Make recommendations from the evidence found.
For the References: There should be a reference within your paper to every citation, adhering to MLA standards. Consult MLAhandbook.org and Appendix B of the text for information on how to cite using MLA standards. (Keep in mind that MLA uses a Works Cited page.)
Part 3: Deliverables
Compile the above materials into a report. You may choose either a traditional written report OR an audio visual presentation adhering to these guidelines.
Both forms, written or audio/visual, must:
clearly identify the problem(s) associated with your topic that may affect new business professionals
frame the contents of your report around the problem identification
include your research summary
include a list of “Top 10 Tips” that are important for young business professionals to know about your topic. These tips should be ones you determined from your research. Be sure to cite your tips and explain why each is important.
Include at least one chart/table/graph to support your points and label and cite it appropriately.
Be sure to format your work professionally and eliminate spelling or typographical errors.
Spelling errors/typos will result in substantial penalty on the assignment.
Guidelines for Traditional Written Report:
Be sure to include:
cover page/title page and name (see pg. 345 in the textbook)
table of contents
page numbering begins on page 1 of the body
works cited page
use Times New Roman font size 11 or 12, with 1-inch margins
must have at least one table or graph, used effectively to present information, not just for aesthetics; Graphs/figures need to be labeled and cited appropriately, following guidelines in Chapter 10
minimum of 4 pages in length (That is the minimum, but it can certainly be longer. In addition to 4 pages of content, you will need a cover page, table of contents, works cited page and perhaps an appendix.)
the paper must be submitted to TurnItIn along with submission to Blackboard; The paper will not be considered submitted until it is in both Blackboard AND TurnItIn.
Compile everything above into a single WORD file. Submit to TurnItIn and upload to the assignment link above.
