Integrating Management Functions to Advance Innovation

GM501 | Management Theory and Practice II

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Assignment Details and Rubric

Unit 6 Assignment: Integrating Management Functions to Advance Innovation

You should update your Assignment based on insights and lessons learned that are relevant to the advancement of your innovative idea.

This Assignment will assess your knowledge based on the following Professional Competency Outcome:

PC-2.2: Formulate innovative solutions for identified initiatives.

Your textbook Management by Richard L. Daft (2014) thoroughly examines the key functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. As you complete GM501: Management Theories and Practices II, the focus is on the management functions of leading and controlling. Please recall that GM500: Management Theories and Practices I, centered on the management functions of planning and organizing. As you continue the process in creating your GM501 Assignment it is crucial to review, refine, and improve your paper based on insight you will gain in each unit of the course.

In the preface, Daft (2014) argues that the business environment today is no longer clinging to the myth of stability. The 21st Century business world, in which you will work as managers, is beyond the scope of most traditional approaches to business and management. A key goal that Daft asserts throughout the text is the “need for current and future managers to find innovative solutions to the problems that plague today’s organizations” (preface, xviii). The emphasis that Daft makes is on the power of innovative management for a changing world. In order to bring about innovation, managers must develop the skills, competencies, principles, and commitment that are examined throughout the chapters in the text and reinforced with specific learning activities in each unit of this Kaplan course. The challenge for professional managers is to ignite thoughtful creativity and to integrate management functions that will advance innovation. This is certainly easier said than done, but your Kaplan MSM program is preparing you well to step up to this worthy challenge.

Daft, R. L. (2014). Management (11th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

The mission of the Kaplan University School of Business and Management is to advance your skills in critical thinking, and to research relevant sources of information in order “to empower students to apply their learning to become insightful decision makers and leaders.” These are exciting times for management students, who understand management theories and practices, and who can also bring about innovative management ideas and effectively apply them to real-world organizational situations — in other words, to become insightful decision makers and leaders.

With this in mind, the cornerstone of your Assignment is to advance an innovative idea that you believe would make a positive difference for any organization. This innovation is of your own choosing. Try to keep it relatively simple, unique, realistic, and applicable. Your innovative idea will be a consistent thread running through your paper. The focus of your paper is to apply the management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in order to advance your innovative idea from a concept to an implemented organizational outcome.

GM501 | Management Theory and Practice II

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Even though GM501 concentrated on the management functions of leading and controlling, you need to return to the first part of the Daft text and/or GM500 to address the functions of planning and organizing. For most students, GM500 and GM501 are taken sequentially. However, you may be a student who has not previously taken GM500. If this is the case, you will need to review some of the key concepts on planning (Part 2) and organizing (Part 3) in the Daft text for this Assignment.

For the Unit 6 Assignment, you will be writing a case study. Select an organization that needs to take a step forward with innovation (this applies to all organizations). Assume you are a consultant contracted by the company to improve innovation. Your Assignment will be a written report given to your client. At the end of the paper, you will do some reflection specifically for you, not the client, about points of personal or professional application related to innovation lessons learned and next steps.

Construct and write your paper with subheadings that connect to the key components of the grading Rubric. Include how an innovative idea can be ignited, nurtured, and implemented in a real-world organizational context.

Title your Assignment — “Integrating Management Functions to Advance Innovation”

Sub Headings

● Introduction ● Problem ● Innovative Management Idea ● Conclusion ● Application ● Reference Page

Criteria

● Use the Template to complete your Assignment. ● Your paper must be 7–10 pages (minimum 2100 words) in length, that it is in proper APA format,

and that you have proofread your paper for spelling and grammatical errors. Please take advantage of the Kaplan Writing Center and utilize the APA Guidelines Summary found in Doc Sharing.

● Review the Rubric below to ensure all points have been captured. Directions for Submitting Your Assignment: Write your paper in a Microsoft Word document and save it in a location that includes your name and the title. Submit your Assignment to the Unit 6 Assignment Dropbox.

Unit 6 Assignment: Integrating Management Functions to Advance Innovation

Areas to be evaluated Possible Points

Points Earned

Title Page 3

Introduction: Identify the real organization you will be addressing. 5

GM501 | Management Theory and Practice II

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Review the organization and describe the pending action. 10

Problem What is the one problem, simply stated? 5

Why does the organization have this ONE problem, and what are the causes? 11

How are these causes related? 9

Innovative Management Idea: What are some possible solutions? — more than one 5

Which solution is best and why? — critical thinking 5

Demonstration of Planning Mastery. 5

Demonstration of Organizing Mastery. 5

Demonstration of Leading Mastery. 5

Demonstration of Controlling Mastery. 5

Conclusion What take-away lesson would you emphasize to your client on the power of innovation? 25

Application: Points of personal or professional application related to innovative lessons learned and next steps. 20

Reference Page Cite at least four journal articles; two may be from previous Annotated Bibliography Assignments. Cite the Derosa and Lepsinger text. Citation and reference per APA 6th edition. 15

Paper Length: Write 7 pages (2100 words), double spaced, and not including the title page and reference page. 5

Writing Style: Appearance, Spelling, Grammar, Organization, Clarity, Originality, and APA 6th edition. 12

LATE Paper Deduction -X

Total Points Earned 150