Imagine you have been hired as a consultant by a corporation in which you are interested (Examples: Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Nikon, etc.) to advise them on creating a manual to develop managerial competence. You can select any such corporation on which you can easily access information. Create this manual with a focus on developing their managers’ ability to solve problems, and motivate, and empower others. Emphasis will be on the understanding of the managerial strategies, critical evaluation as well and the ability to clearly create your own strategies that either align with or differentiate from your research on the particular manager/leader. The paper should reveal additional information beyond any that may be covered in the textbook. Your own analysis, summary, and conclusions will increase the value of your paper.
The term paper should be at least 1,500 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. Please keep in mind that the word count requirements point out the minimum amount of effort that should be put into the paper. Word count isn’t everything because the quality of writing and research matters as well, but it is an indication of the quantity of effort put into the assignment. Note that word count does not include title, abstract, or reference pages. Not following this requirement will significantly impact the grade.
Use scholarly peer-reviewed references rather than websites. Scholarly references are generally more credible and make a more persuasive argument. Non-academic websites are not typically recommended for academic writing. While most of the information generally is correct, it is not always reliable because anyone can change the content, bias is often present, and it is not peer-reviewed. For example, it’s best not to use news websites, Wikipedia, investopedia.com, about.com, smallbusiness.chron.com, huffingtonpost.com, ehow.com, forbes.com, cnn.com, online encyclopedias, or similar non-academic websites. Articles on these types of websites are written by reporters or individuals who may or may not be experts in the field and consequently may have incorrect or biased information. Instead, it adds much more credibility to use the class eText, other related textbooks, and peer-reviewed articles, i.e. scholars have analyzed and evaluated the content for accuracy, quality, and reliability. Be sure to use the university library to help you find these types of scholarly references. The library has a setting in database searches that allows you to search for peer-reviewed articles only. It is acceptable to use a company website for research, say for example if you are researching Apple, it’s okay to use www.apple.com to describe their mission, strategy, financials, etc.
Strategic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use (ChatGPT, Bard, Perplexity.AI, or MS Bing) is allowed ONLY in the following ways for this assignment:
Background research on your company (make sure to fact-check!)
As a “peer” reviewer to ask AI for revision suggestions
If you choose to use AI tools in this assignment, you must include the output in an appendix, as well as a short summary of how you used the tool.
Use of Artificial Intelligence tools is PROHIBITED in any other way, including in your critique or analysis, as those should be entirely your mental effort.
Any plagiarism or unauthorized AI usage will result in an automatic 0 grade.
Use proper in-text references to your sources when quoting directly or indirectly, and an end-of-the-paper reference list. Papers must be word-processed and conform to the high standards established in Berkeley English composition classes. APA format must be used. Any posting that does not meet the above requirements will have points deducted. Plagiarism is not allowed and will be the basis for failure – see Course Information for more on how to avoid plagiarism. The Term Paper should be well organized and encompass the above subject and content guidelines, and an electronic copy of the project should be submitted via Turnitin.
