Individual Research Paper (RTP)

PURPOSE

To assist in the synthesis of the course, a summary term paper is required. You will select one public company to research and write about. Here are a few of the top publicly traded companies in the DFW area for the current fiscal year (you can select any public company – these are just examples):

Southwest Airlines, Exxon Mobil, AT&T, Fluor Corporation, American Airlines, Kimberly-Clark, Texas Instruments, J.C. Penney Co., GameStop Corp., Commercial Metals Co., DR Horton Inc., Keurig/ Dr. Pepper Inc., Atmos Energy Corporation, Sally Beauty Holdings, Fossil Group, Lennox International, Rent-A-Center, Zale Corporation, TTI (Mansfield) and others.

RESOURCES

There is a lot of information available on public companies including the company’s website, the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News (if local), etc. Also, the UNT Library Online provides access to books, online articles, databases, and e-Journals that will help you in your research (http://www.library.unt.edu/). If you have a personal connection at the company, you could even interview a manager to get additional information. I have provided a UNT Library link below. Use the company research tab on the left side of the page.

Home – MGMT 3850: Foundations of Entrepreneurship – Guides at University of North Texas (unt.edu) Links to an external site.

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Research the company’s mission, their competitors/external environment, company strengths and weaknesses, company management style, motivation tools used by their managers, the company’s culture, the company’s goals, and any challenges the company faces (competition, growth, etc.) You will then summarize the trends you observe in the term paper.

PERSONAL OUTCOME

Use this as an opportunity to learn about companies you may be interested in working for full time or as an intern! Be thinking about why the company interests you, what training and development opportunities they provide their employees, and what benefits they provide. Doing this research can help you prepare for your internship and/or job search as well as give you up to 60 points towards your final grade in the course!

MECHANICS

The paper should be submitted using “Assignments” within Canvas LMS® on January 11, 2023 by 10:59 pm. All projects will be submitted to a plagiarism service similar to www.turnitin.com. The document should be titled Lastname_Firstname_RTP x.

I do not require an APA style paper. The submission will consist of a cover page, plus six to eight pages manuscript, plus works cited along with appropriate appendix materials (10 pages? see below). You will use single line and character spacing, left-justified paragraphs, 12-point Arial font, 1” margins, ¼” Indentions, levels 1-2-3 headings to signal transitions, and APA style parenthetical citations within the document and APA citations on the works cited page(s). i.e. (Robbins, 2021). Do space between paragraphs for readability. 

Remember, the cover page is included in the page count. Paragraph headings should be used to provide the reader with transitions in thought. It is also a good idea to check for spelling and grammar issues. The manuscript of 8-10 total pages should include the following sections:

APA 7th Edition: The Basics of APA In-text Citations | Scribbr ????Links to an external site.

Typing Headings and Subheadings in APA-Style Papers (Jump to what you want)Links to an external site.

Cover Page
• Title (give me the name of the company you researched for the paper!)
• Prepared for:
• Prepared by:
• Date

Introduction
• Introduce the Company – Where are they headquartered? Global or Domestic Company? Service Provider or Manufacturer? What industry are they in? Has this industry experience any recent trends and/or innovations?
o Explain any pre-existing relationships (employer, friend of family, family member, etc.) and why the company interests you.
o Tell me how you researched the company.
o This portion should take no more than 1 page.

Main Body
• An overview of the Company, Products, Services, and Markets Served.
o This should include a description of any of the items you find particularly salient from the research.
o Use the Boston Consulting Group diagram to designate product/ service positioning within the market.
o Tell me about the company’s Mission and Goals. Do these match company actions?
o This should be a 2 to 3 pages section.
• An overview of the Organizational Strategy for the company.
o This should include a description of relevant observations as well as related textbook sections on leadership and strategy.
o This should be a 1 to 2 pages section.
• An overview of Ethics and Social Responsibility Activities of the Company.
o This should include description of the relevant observations as well as related textbook sections on goal setting and motivation.
o This should be a 1-page section.

Conclusion
• A statement summarizing your impression of the company’s management style and culture.
o Is the management strategy working?
o Do you have any recommendations on how they could improve motivation or strategy?
o This portion should take no more than 1 page.

Appendix
• Any charts, tables, and figures referenced in the body of the paper.
• Create a “Works Cited Section” containing any APA citations for sources used including the Robbins text.
• Do not cite www.Wikipedia.com. University students do not use unreliable sources.

COURSE OUTCOMES

For the leadership and motivation sections above, you should consider relevant chapters and concepts from the text when selecting which aspects are ‘most important,’ but realize that this is a personal subjective call on your part. I want you to integrate course concepts and practitioner practices. I am looking for (A) effort and (B) an attempt to link concepts. This suggests that you should identify which concepts from the text you observed (or expected to observe), including terminology, chapter, and sections as appropriate. Even if you are somewhat ‘off track,’ the practice of trying to synchronize these elements is a learning exercise itself.

Grading Criteria – The paper will be graded using the following guidelines:
• Cover page
• Writing quality
• Adherence to structure
• Thoroughness and accuracy
• Logical flow of conclusion
• Works cited page
• Summary Term Paper submitted through the “Assignment Tool” in Canvas LMS®.

The paper is worth 60 points total. Grading criteria will be as follows:

CONTENT……………………………………. 35 points
FORMAT……………………………………… 10 points
GRAMMAR, SPELLING, SENTENCE
STRUCTURE, WORD USE,
PROPER CITATION STYLE, ETC………… 15 points