Term paper:  Term project is an important exercise of this course to use the scientific method of inquiry in learning management and leadership. If you are not really clear about elements of a scientific research and its process, please go back to your earlier readings by Samuel Bacharach, Kerlinger, Ghiselli, and even the textbook authors (i.e., Konopaske, Matteson, and Ivancevich): it includes variables/ constructs, their relationship /theory, and explaining /predicting one from another variable. You need to establish a theory built on the previous knowledge/ literature, your prior experiences, or well-constructed logics. Then, empirical testing needs to be done with carefully developed measures, data collection using the measures, and analyses of the collected data.

Because time and training allowed for this short one semester course are not sufficient enough to make you a rigorous scientist, you are just expected to develop a simple comparative theory between two cases on one of the five topics (use a comparison table); and to show your observations or experiences (i.e., through interviews and/or personal experiences and anecdotes) in comparing the two cases, more like a case study.

Suppose you want to study culture and management, comparing the US and a Latin American country (e.g., Mexico, or Brazil). Your first exercise is to develop a theoretical frame.

Use two column comparison of the US. and Mexico (for instance) along with several key variables (rows) such as social activities, values, management practices, etc. Based on the literature /published knowledge, fill in the two column cells with your theoretical claims. Use this completed theoretical claims (it is practically a theory) as your guide to collect anecdotes /stories/ experiences/ observations through interviews with someone from the country. Then, offer your summary empirical observations in another table (just like your theory table) to approve or disapprove your initial theory.

Term project topics and suggested research questions.

1. Culture and management practice: What are cultural differences between the U.S. and a country of your choice? What are different management practices presumably rooted in the cultural differences?
2. Personality and Career: Does personality a good predictor of career choice and success in the chosen career?
3. Job design and motivation. Do different jobs motivate employees differently?

4. Leadership Styles and Presidents. What are leadership styles and qualities that are perceived to be effective and how would you use them in evaluating success of business executives or presidents?
5. Effective communication. What is the purpose of communication? How would you communicate to achieve your purpose effectively?

• For the format and style of your report, please follow the APA (American Psychological Association) writing guide: a 2-page summary of the APA guide is attached at the course syllabus as well as at the bottom of this guide.

TermP-Template

Term Paper

MGT XXX

Fall 2021

Personality and Career Success: A Comparative Study of Two Cases

By Jane Doe, JaneDoe@ccsu.edu

ABSTRACT

For the final report, you need an abstract on the cover page underneath the title and the author’s name. Abstract summarizes the entire paper in one paragraph (200-300 words). Start a new page for the introduction. 

INTRODUCTION

Introduction should start on top of a new page, following the abstract. It introduces your research topical issue and discusses why this issue is important and what your motivation is to tackle this issue for your research. You also present your research questions and provide summaries of the key literature (your reading of published articles) related to your research issue.

TWO THERETICAL FOUNDATIONS

            One of the most frequently asked questions by students is: how many pages a report should be. I have no particular page limit, upper or lower, and I can only tell you that what you present as your theory /claim and how you document it matter, not the volume of your report. However, student reports in the past semesters range from eight to twenty pages: the class median falls in somewhere between 12 and 14 pages.

            Once you complete your critical thinking exercise and develop a nice theoretical table, summarizing your claims on the topic comparing two different and potentially contrasting cases or events (Use Table 1 as your template or guide), your next task is to use this table as your guide to collect and take notes of your observations and/or past experiences as empirical data. Then, use your notes to illustrate and summarize your empirical observations using another blank table. Using your good summaries of your research topic on nicely outlined tables, you just write narratives on the items in the tables.

Table 1. Theoretical Foundation of Personality and Career Choice/ Success

Note: the elements in Column and Row, of course, should change to your chosen topic. For instance, for the topic of cross-cultural comparison, you might want to have ‘values and beliefs, social behaviors and activities, organizational behaviors and activities, management of employee behaviors, and /or performance etc.

TWO CASES IN POINT

Table 2. Summary of Empirical Observations

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

REFERENCES (Sample)

Amanchukwu, Rose Ngozi, Stanley, Gloria Jones, & Ololube, Nwachukwu Prince, (2015). A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management. Management, 5(1), pp 6-14, DOI: 10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02.

Baker, Kathryn A. (2007). Chapter 13. Organizational Communication of Management Benchmark Study. Pp 1-15, Sighted on 10-13-2021 at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.448.8283&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Nekane Basabe, Nekane (2005). Cultural dimensions and social behavior correlates: Individualism Collectivism and Power Distance. International Review of Social Psychology, 18(1), pp 189-225.

Siengthai, Sununta and Pila-Ngarm, Patarakhuan (2015). The interaction effect of job redesign and job satisfaction on employee performance, Evidence-Based Human Resource Management, 4(2), pp 162-180.

Vasilescu, Maria (2019). Leadership Styles and Theories in an Effective Management Activity. Annals of the Constantin Brâncu?i University of Târgu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 4,  Academia Brancusi Publisher, ISSN 2344 – 3685, pp 47-52.

Vollrath, Margarete and Torgersen, Svenn, (2000). Personality Types and Coping. Personality and Individual Differences 29, Pergamon Pub, pp 367-378.

Term project report writing and assessment rubric

1. Topical Choice: Choose a topic from the suggested list in the syllabus. If you choose your own topic, make sure to submit your plan of study with articulated purpose of the study and the research question.

2. Meaningful Title: Make sure to include key variables or constructs in the title and craft it in 8-12 words. Place the title centered at the top of the first page.

3. Theoretical Framework: Develop a two-column comparison table as your theoretical frame (suggestion) of the study. We have been discussing about this ‘comparison’ of a key variable/construct in class: please refer to the summary presentation pad posted in the blackboard. The contents in the comparison table are expected to be rather abstract and conceptual and to be logically related or contrasted, so that they become theoretical foundation of your study.

4. Empirical Observation. Use the theoretical framework (Item 3) as your guide to conduct interviews and /or observations of two target cases and collect descriptive narratives and stories. You will construct another summary table of observations which match the theoretical framework.

5. References. Search for the related materials (start with the textbooks) and use them as your guide in developing a theoretical framework. Make sure to list them by the APA (American Psychological Association) publication style. Your syllabus has a two page summary of the APA writing style.

Term Paper Assessment Rubric

For the format and style of your report, please follow the APA (American Psychological Association) writing guide: a 2-page summary of the APA guide is attached next 2 pages.

Ten Common APA Style Guide

1. Font: Use a 12-point serif font, such asTimes Roman (preferred), Palatino, etc. ..

2. Spacing: Double-space all copy, except the reference list and block quotes.

3. Margins and page numbers: All margins should be 1" from the edge of the paper. Page numbers go in the upper right corner, . . . 

4. Italics: Use italics for serif fonts, except for Courier type. APA does not allow bold type except in tables and figures.

5. Punctuation: The APA nuance most commonly missed by students is that in a series of three or more nouns or noun phrases, you must insert a comma before the word and or or, as in the following examples:  bacon, lettuce, and tomato; Tom, Dick, or Harry; eating lunch, going to the gym, and then going home. Use a semicolon to combine two independent clauses or to separate elements of a list that contain a comma, as in the past example.  Add an apostrophe + s for possessives of names: Smith’s; Jones’s. Most prefixes are not hyphenated: semistructured, nondenominational, multimedia, antisocial.

6. Capitalization: Job titles are not capitalized unless immediately preceding a person’s name: the superintendent, but Superintendent Williams; the president of the school board; President Agnew. Use a lowercase letter after a colon unless introducing a complete sentence.

7. Lists (Seriation): Within a paragraph, list items using (a), (b), (c), and so on. In a vertical list, use numbers and periods, as in these examples: The teachers identified three challenges: (a) teaching hungry children, (b) making do with outdated books, and (c) organizational bureaucracy. . .

8. Numbers (APA 3.42-3.45) and percentages. The rules for numbers are tricky and should be studied. In general, numbers 10 and higher appear as numerals; nine and lower are written out. There are exceptions: elements of time, distance, ratios, and percentages always appear as numerals, unless at the start of a sentence.

9. Use respectful language. Chapter 2 in the APA manual presents important information on language use with respect to gender, race, disabilities, and so forth. Avoid the generic pronouns he and she, or he/she, when possible, by using they: Wrong: When a teacher has a bad day, she feels like screaming. Better: When teachers have a bad day, they feel like screaming.

10. Tables and figures. Sections 3.62-3.86 are critical to your accurate and persuasive portrayal of data.

Quick Guide to Citing Sources in APA Style

While the APA manual may look overwhelming to you when you first start using it, . . .

Formatting In-text Citations

These basic rules relate to in-text citations. 

1.    Use the author/date system. Be careful with your punctuation. Gould’s (1995) analysis was later challenged by others (Duncan, 1997; Evans, 1998). 

2.    Do not plagiarize. Just changing a couple of words or rearranging a sentence isn’t paraphrasing. For direct quotes, you must identify the page number of the original source. For paraphrases, you are strongly encouraged to do so.

Original of Latham (1998): Luxury boxes and other amenities aimed at affluent fans are one way to attract new revenue to a stadium, but the public dollars that fund them benefit only the privileged classes, not the common good.

Plagiarism:  Luxury boxes and other amenities aimed at rich fans are a way to get new revenue at a stadium. However, the public monies that fund them benefit only the wealthy--and not the common good (Latham, 1998).

Paraphrased: Latham (1998) observed that spending public dollars on comforts enjoyed solely by wealthy fans is not in the overall public interest (p. 432).

3.            When directly quoting a source of 40 or more consecutive words, format the quote in block form. The final punctuation comes before the parenthetical element. (APA 3.34)

If this were a direct quote, I’d indent about five spaces on the left.  It’s 43 words, which is why it is formatted in block form. The final period is placed before the parenthetical element, not after it as in the Latham examples. (Rachmaninoff, 1936, p. 3)

4.            List authors in groups of different sources in alphabetical order by first listed author’s surname. Separate groups with semicolons. (e.g., Hart, 1998; Iksic & Holmes, 1995; Melnick, Ek, & Fazio, 1996).  (APA 3.99)

5.            "Et al." should not be used the first time a work is cited unless that work has six or more authors. For works with fewer than six authors, list all authors in the first citation, then use the surname of the first author and "et al." and the year in subsequent references. Be careful with the punctuation. Usually there’s no comma between the author and et al. As noted earlier, Melnick et al. (1996) suggested that. . . .

6.            With two or more authors in a parenthetical citation, use "&" rather than "and" before the last author. Stein and Hernandez (1995) but other authors (Gomez & O’Hara, 1995). . . .

Formatting the Reference List

1.            An entire book.

Melnick, A., Ek, S. A., & Fazio, M. J. (1996). Finishing high school without trying. Erie, PA: Peach Steet Press.

2.            A chapter in an edited book.

Pogoff, S. (1998). Hair and nails to match. In L. Rubenstein & A. Perl (Eds.), Preteen survival guide (pp. 48-56). New York: Gordon Books.

3.            A journal article.

Latham, M. (1998). The future of stadiums is not the past. Sports Economics, 17, 431-468.

Note in that the title of the article is written in sentence case, and no quotation marks are used,  nor does pp. appear before the page numbers.

4.            A magazine article, no author.

Enough scandals for one day. (1998, May 19). Newsweek, 46. 

When the author is not provided, indicate the title of the author in the first spot. In the in-text citation, the article title is shortened, in quotation marks, to lead the reader to the right spot in the references. (“Enough Scandals,” 1998).

5.            Article from ERIC.

Thomas, M., & Donahue, P. (1995). Reexamining the effects of TV on the elderly. Minneapolis, MN: Center for the Study of the Visual Media. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 543 980)

6.           The DSM-IV.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (rev. 4^th ed.). Washington, DC: Author

7.           One author, two publications in the same year.

Whittemore, A. (1994a). Finding a path toward recovery. Journal of Zen Studies, 15, 314-345.

Whittemore, A. (1994b). Loss of hair and the effect on the aging white male. Coping Today, 13, 25-29. 

In text, note the first publication by citing it as (Whittemore, 1994a), the second as (Whittemore, 1994b).

8.           Personal communication.

Per APA, references to personal communication, such as letters, memos, email messages, or phone interviews, show up only in-text and not in the reference list.

The drop in crime among youth may actually increase the need for mental health services in Aitkin County (M. Lemieux, personal communication, February 1, 1999).

Citing Web-Based Articles

Citing documents. To cite a specific document on the Web, start by following the format of other documents as noted in the APA manual. Below are two common examples. The first is an online version of a print article. The second is from a Web site.

Lippold, L., & Johnson, B. (2000). Religious intolerance among those of the same faith [Electronic version].  Issues in Atheism, 5, 146-157.

The in-text citation would simply refer to Lippold and Johnson (2000). 

Sainio, D. (2001).  Writings from the Chairman’s Little Red Book of Fishing.  Retrieved August 25, 2001, from  http://www.rsi.edu/ journals/sainio.html

Citing page numbers. Per APA 3.101, “For electronic sources that do not provide page numbers, use the paragraph number, if available, preceded by the ¶ symbol or the abbreviation para.” APA also recommends that if neither the paragraph nor page number are printed, try to find a section heading and write the section number / page number together, like this, from the last example: (Sainio, 2001, Carp section, ¶ 4).

Refer to www.apastyle.org for examples of other online references.  by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab