ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION, CMUN 224 SSII 2002PAPER AND PROSPECTUS INFORMATIONJIM QUERY, PH.D.The purpose of this handout is to ID my expectations for the term paper and prospectus. This document should be used in close conjunction with the Writing Standards Guide, APA (see the StyleWizard), and Scientific Method material (see classes page of my website and the statsoneb.html as well for the sci method). To ease your perusal, an outline format is employed.OPTIONAL RISK-FREE PROSPECTI DUE DATE: July 19, 2002. (by 5:00pm)
FINAL PROSPECTI DUE: July 26, 2002. (by 5:00pm) Be sure to turn in RF as well.
ONE COPY OF PAPER DUE: August 9, 2002. (by 5:00pm)
POINT VALUE: PROSPECTUS @ 12% AND PAPER @ 24%.
LENGTH PARAMETERS: WHILE I DO HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT SPECIFYING AN EXACT LENGTH, A SUCCESSFUL PAPER HAS USUALLY AVERAGED 12-16 PAGES.
REQUIRED SOURCES:AT LEAST 25-32 (total), INCLUDING two current event articles and two online sources.
AT LEAST 25-32 (total), INCLUDING two current event articles and two online sources. FORMAT:ALL PAPERS SHOULD ADHERE TO THE STANDARDS SPECIFIED IN THE WRITING STANDARD GUIDE, FOLLOW CORRECT DOCUMENTATION PROCEDURES (APA), MUST BE TYPED USING DOUBLE- SPACING, HAVE PAGE NUMBERS AND SECTION LABELS; CONTINUITY AND COHERENCY ARE EVALUATED WITHIN RESPECTIVE SECTION. PROSPECTI AND/OR PAPERS WITHOUT INDIVIDUALLY-AUTHORED SECTIONS WILL BE PENALIZED TWO LETTER GRADES. ASSUME, ALSO, THAT YOU ARE WRITING TO AN ORG CMUN NEOPHYTE. A "NEOPHYTE" IS ONE WHO IS NEW TO AN AREA, AND THUS, HAS MUCH TO DISCOVER.
ALL PAPERS SHOULD ADHERE TO THE STANDARDS SPECIFIED IN THE WRITING STANDARD GUIDE, FOLLOW CORRECT DOCUMENTATION PROCEDURES (APA), MUST BE TYPED USING DOUBLE- SPACING, HAVE PAGE NUMBERS AND SECTION LABELS; CONTINUITY AND COHERENCY ARE EVALUATED WITHIN RESPECTIVE SECTION. PROSPECTI AND/OR PAPERS WITHOUT INDIVIDUALLY-AUTHORED SECTIONS WILL BE PENALIZED TWO LETTER GRADES. ASSUME, ALSO, THAT YOU ARE WRITING TO AN ORG CMUN NEOPHYTE. A "NEOPHYTE" IS ONE WHO IS NEW TO AN AREA, AND THUS, HAS MUCH TO DISCOVER.ASSIGNMENT EXPLICATION:
Section I: Anticipating your possible career choice(s), select and identify an organization consistent with your aspirations. For example, suppose you anticipate becoming a PR professional. Then, you would select a PR firm, such as Leo Burnett. Drawing from their web site, current event articles, publications, and/or internal documents, explicate what knowledge competencies will be required for entry-level employment. Using a publicized event such as a take-over, downsizing, advertising campaign, etc., identify and demonstrate any sensitivity competencies that were apparent in the selected situation or were missing. Based on your assessment of the firm's materials, what skills would be necessary for entry-level employment? To what extent, if any, were these skills apparent or missing relative to the selected event? If available, describe the ethical standards that guide the organization. [ALL STUDENTS AUTHOR THIS SECTION.]
Section II: Working from your selected firm's website, current event articles, publications, and/or internal documents, apply the functional approach, meaning-centered approach, and/or the emerging perpsectives approach to analyze their communication practices. [see SZBAK; At least two students could individually author this section and their focal organizations need not be the same.]
Section III: Working from your selected firm's website, current event articles, publications, and/or internal documents, describe the dominant managerial philosophy (e.g., Scientific Management, Human Behavior, Integrated Perspectives, etc.). After explicating the tenets of the dominant approach, be sure to link it with numerous communication practices that support your position. [see SZBAK; At least two students could individually author this section and their focal organizations need not be the same.]
Section IV: Working from your firm's website, compare and contrast it to another similar firm's website. You may use the theoretical approaches in Sections II and III above as the framework for your evaluation. Additional material concerning website attributes will be distributed in class and may be used as well. [At least two students could individually author this section.]
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PROSPECTUS GUIDELINES:
1.An effective prospectus provides an in-depth, but preliminary,
An effective prospectus provides an in-depth, but preliminary, explication of the key content areas. IT IS NOT AN OUTLINE.
It is also NOT a separate paper, as it will go directly into the final paper with revisions and elaboration (see number 5 below).
2.Addressing its length parameters, successful prospecti have
Addressing its length parameters, successful prospecti have averaged 4-10 pages.
3. It is also helpful to include and review some of your sources so that their
It is also helpful to include and review some of your sources so that their cogency and relevance can be ascertained.
4. It is essential to provide content to obtain my feedback. Consider for
It is essential to provide content to obtain my feedback. Consider for example the statement, "an example from the firm's personnel guide will
be explained." Now, place yourself in my position. Could you evaluate
the merits of the example? Could you assess the quality of the
explication???
5.The quality of the prospectus is correlated with the final paper. The
The quality of the prospectus is correlated with the final paper. The subsequent revisions in the prospectus also shape the quality of the final
paper. The prospectus should be interwoven and expanded upon in the
final paper.
6.An often asked question regards whether there is a penalty for not doing
An often asked question regards whether there is a penalty for not doing the risk-free review. At a formal level, the answer is NO. Nothing in the
syllabus would justify such an approach; however, there is also a
pragmatic side to this question. If gaps occur in a RF context, they cost
you nothing and I suggest strategies to help close them. Conversely, in
the graded context, I have to be fair to the class and match the work with
the standards. Hence, gaps occurring here are penalized, although
strategies are still IDed to help guide subsequent revisions.
7.Remember please, as the syllabus states, Failure to successfully
Remember please, as the syllabus states, Failure to successfully complete the prospectus will also trigger the grade of "F" for the final
paper.
8.Your prospectus should be word-processed and double-spaced;
Your prospectus should be word-processed and double-spaced; follow APA, and be in concert with the Writing Standards Guide. Any prospectus or paper presenting excessive mechanical or documentation errors will not receive a passing grade.
