Michael smith only

Final Project – Title Page, Outline, & References Page

Develop the format and framework for your final project.  Your submission should be a single document which includes:

• APA formatted Title Page
• Outline summarizing the main topics and sub-topics of the final project (be sure to refer to the lecture from Week 1)
• APA formatted References page

Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations within your outline to support your ideas.

Final Project Preparation

For the second lecture this week, I want to provide additional guidance on your final project.  Having been a student in your shoes, I understand the frustrations that exist when you’re given an assignment with broad guidelines and minimal specifics to go on.  In the following paragraphs, my goals are to further shape expectations and give you that motivational burst to go off and do great things!  If after reading this you still feel a bit puzzled or just need some additional clarification, please reach out immediately.  As the saying goes, “Bad news doesn’t get better with time.”  In other words, if you’re confused now, you’ll likely still be confused in week 8 when your final project is due and you’ll be in much worse shape by then.  Okay, so that you have all of the project information in one location, I’ve listed below the specific assignments for the final project from weeks 1, 3, and 8.

Week 1:

Final Project - Topic Selection

The final project revolves around you diagnosing a process/structure/environment in an organization that you're familiar with and that needs improvement and designing an organizational development (OD) intervention to achieve positive change.  Organizations such as your place of employment, community groups, volunteer groups, school committees, and even city/state/Federal governments are areas to consider.  Using APA formatting requirements (12 point Times New Roman font, double-spacing, 1" margins, title and reference pages), write a 250-350 word paper introducing your chosen organization and the associated process/structure/environment that needs improvement.  Additionally, your paper should discuss the following:  *why you have chosen your organization; *a diagnosis of why the change is needed; *proposed organizational behavior concepts from the text that might apply as you work towards an intervention.


Week 3:

Final Project – References

Benjamin Franklin once quoted, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  This week’s written assignment is designed to ensure you stay on track with your final project and have adequately researched your organization of choice and planned intervention.  For this week, provide a set of references you have read in preparation for your final project.  Each reference should include the following:

• APA formatted citation of the source as it will appear on your References page
• A brief description of the source
• A short summary of its primary points or arguments
• A brief explanation of how the source is relevant to your project

A minimum of 5 credible references is required for this assignment.



Week 5:

Final Project – Title Page, Outline, & References Page

Develop the format and framework for your final project.  Your submission should be a single document which includes:

• Title Page in APA format
• Outline summarizing the main topics and sub-topics of the final project (be sure to refer to the lecture from Week 1)
• References page in APA format

Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations within your outline to support your ideas.


Week 8:

Final Project – Paper

Using APA formatting requirements (12 point Times New Roman font, double-spacing, 1" margins, title and reference pages), write a 1,500-2,500 word paper in which you diagnose a process/structure/environment in an organization that you're familiar with (and that you chose in week 1 and have been researching during the term) and that needs improvement and design an organizational development (OD) intervention to achieve positive change.  In addition to your standard APA formatting requirements, your paper should include an Executive Summary which succinctly describes your recommended change(s), highlights of what will be required during the change process, and a projected timeline for implementation.

Now that’s a lot to digest!  Seriously though, as former US Army Chief of Staff General Creighton Abrams, Jr. once said, “When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.”  In other words, don’t get caught up in the depth of what’s required in the final paper but rather focus on one step at a time.  To begin with, you’ll need to brainstorm and identify various organizations that you belong to.  Then, for each of those organizations, list what could use some improving.  Once you have a list, you’ll need to decide which organization that you would like to focus on and why.  The more passionate you are about the change, the easier the research and paper composition will become.

For those of you looking for a roadmap of the paper, noted below is a proposed structure.  You are not limited by this structure and I encourage to dig deeper, however, following this structure, meeting the APA formatting requirements, and adhering to the length requirement maximizes your chance at success.  Here it goes:

• Title page
• Table of contents
• Executive Summary – succinctly describes your recommended change(s), highlights of what will be required during the change process, and a projected timeline for implementation
• Background – why you have chosen the organization, the organization’s significance in your life, a brief history on the organization to include key factors that are relevant in future sections of the paper
• Diagnosis
  • Current Situation – why is the change needed
  • Supporting Data/Analysis – how do you know the change is needed, provide supporting data, objective data is best but may be augmented with subjective data if obtained from credible sources
• Recommended Intervention – detail your proposed organizational development intervention, the change process that will be required, and a proposed timeline for implementation
• Applicable Organizational Behavior Concepts – a deep discussion of concepts from the text that apply to the proposed intervention, we’re looking for the “crossroads” of theory and application, use the text and other sources to explain why your proposed intervention will work, what are the strategic implications of implementing it
• References Page