leadership 11 page essay APA format

Term Paper Topics and Guidelines

Summer 2017

Complete one of the following assignments for the take-home final exam. Follow the Term Paper Guidelines on the second page. Attach a completed Team Evaluation form to the final exam (see third page).

1.Companies are increasingly using adventure-based experiences to train employees in cooperation, mutual trust, and leadership.  This industry originated in 1941 in England with the Outward Bound program--at one time, the largest adventure-based training program in the world.  The outdoor training heightens personal awareness, inspires excellence, and removes title and office status from participants.  Compare this strategy to traditional leadership training.

2.Watch the classic movie Twelve Angry Men.  Look for the five stages of group development (or use another teambuilding model) within the jury.  How did these men behave at each stage?  Discuss how their behaviors changed over time, and which incidents allowed the group to move from one stage to the next.  Relate observations to research on leadership, conflict resolution, personality, etc.

3..You’ve been assigned to teach Effective Leadership in an MBA program.  It is the year 2020!  What are the 3 hot topics in this course?  How are leaders in organizations dealing with these topics?  Why do your students need to learn them?  How will you know if the course has been successful?

4.Complete two self-insights from the text that your group did not use. Complete the surveys and calculate the results.  Interpret the results; were the results accurate, how might one use the results personally, how would industry use the results; why did you choose that survey?  Use research from the JWU databases; how is the topic presented in the literature; relate your survey results to the literature findings.

5.Develop a paper around this question from the Yincom and Yangnet Case on page 16 in the packet:

You are the Yincom CEO and you have scheduled a meeting of the top 30 managers of Yincom and Yangnet shortly after the merger.  Plan your remarks to be given at that meeting.  Present leadership/change models that will guide your remarks. What are the highlights of your speech?

6.Complete a case from our textbook that was not presented in class. Select one that is substantive enough to analyze thoroughly from a leadership perspective. Act as a consultant who was hired to offer solutions to the case problem. OR Expand a leadership report that you completed earlier in the course. Add new sources that present new viewpoints. Do not include a personal reaction, but be sure to offer a conclusion to the research.

7.Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In “Lean In”, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on a list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of 100 Most Influential People in the World. Offer an analysis of this book.

8.We learned that organizational culture had become fashionable by the 1980’s, as it was linked to “excellence”, e.g. Tom Peters, Jim Collins, Ed Schein, Blake and Mouton.  Organizations have changed the criteria they use for selecting, rewarding, training, and developing followers.  They want employees to “fit” in.  Has the emphasis and/or importance placed on organizational culture become too powerful?  

Term Paper Guidelines

Take-Home Exam

Write a research paper on a specific aspect of leadership in organizations chosen from the Term Paper Topics posted.  The body of the paper must be double-spaced and be about  11 pages.  Extra pages can be used for the title page, table of contents, references, Appendix, e.g. tables, charts, models.  Show documentation throughout the report and use at least 7-8 quality sources; follow APA format.  

All papers will be judged primarily upon their content and presentation of ideas.  Proper composition (i.e., spelling, grammar, etc.) will also be considered in the grade.  Write in third person for objectivity.  Make little use of direct quotes (unless it's profound). Use centered and side headings.  All papers must uncover the issues included in the topic.  The paper can be argumentative. The major points of the paper should be supported by evidence found in the professional journals, interviews, web sites, or texts in the management/psychology area.  Cite studies in the paper to enhance the credibility.  Use a few company examples to support your points, if needed.  

This paper should present a statement in the Introduction that indicates the main points that will be developed in the report.  It should include a rationale for the topic.  What has led to the importance of this topic?  What will the paper accomplish?  How is this issue being debated in the literature?  In the workplace?  Remember, an important theme to address within the paper is the relationship of leadership to the issues in the report.  Do not include a conclusion solely based on personal experience or opinion; rather, the conclusion assimilates the main research points presented in the paper.

All papers are due at the beginning of the last session.  See policy for late papers.