ON WRITING A PAPER IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Dr. Ken Blawatt, September 200

Intr!"#$t%!n Students are required to write a number of papers on a variety of subjects in the business program. The content and context will vary with the subject matter that is being researched, examined, analyzed and reported on. If left to his or her own devices it is not unusual for a student to read a number of articles and, putting pen to paper or finger to eyboard, to set down what is really a b!!& re'%ew and or a compendium of personal observations and opinions. That is not an acceptable paper!. It might be worthy of an upper form or high school assignment but it greatly misses the mar for a university paper. Str#$t#re !( a G!!" Paper ! good paper is a carefully developed document that conveys a message of some importance to the reader which is the intended mission of the author who writes the document. The paper, your paper, must have a clear and discernable message. It must prove a point or it must raise an issue or present an argument. It must say something" ! good paper contains the following )%* points# $. ! t%tle that conveys the meaning of the message that the student wishes to pass on to the reader. Eg: Building the Business Marketing Team %. !n %ntr!"#$t%!n that sets the tone for the paper to follow. !s such it must state clearly what is to be accomplished in the paper. The paper may conclude with an argument in favour, or not in favour with a particular point of view. &r it may be a summary of all that has been examined and analyzed in the paper. &r it may not have a conclusion, which could also determine that the issue cannot be resolved, in which case it then should suggest the way to further discussion, research or deliberations. In any case, the introduction should set out the direction of the paper and what it expects to conclude with. Eg:
The typical Caribbean business has a culture that does little to support a creative, entrepreneurial management style. The paper will discuss a number of cases drawn from a study of Barbados and St. Lucian businesses. t will set out the typical factors that inhibit creativity in the firm and will document the model that is favoured by entrepreneurial firms in Canada and the !". The paper argues that Caribbean firms will be hard pressed to compete with international firms e#cept that they begin to develop an entrepreneurial management culture. t concludes with a number of recommendations that companies may consider in see$ing to attain a more creative and dynamic organi%ation.

'. The ma%n b!"+ of the paper is where the student builds toward a conclusion that synthesizes her or his point of view as developed from the reference material that has been studied and analyzed. The paper must draw from authoritative sources and all of the support and reference material that is used in the paper must come from worthy sources. !ny statement the student would ma e regarding a subject must be supported by either previous synthesis or argument or a reference source. (are statements are opinions and as such are not acceptable as part of a good paper except in a discursive sense. Secondly, the body of the paper or report should be organized with appropriate sub)headings. ! long essay without demarcation or having an organized assembly of sub)topics is perhaps more appropriate to an *nglish literature paper. (usiness papers, businesspersons, demand an organized assembly of sub)titles and sections. *g#
The Gittings Valve Company Case ntroduction The company is an old family business that has supplied water valves to the plumbing industry in the Caribbean for over half a century. t has an absentee owner who lives in the !nited States and the company&s managing director receives his instructions each day by telephone or email. 'e has wor$ed for the company for fifteen years and has been divorced twice and is hoping to retire in another four years, ( nterview )**, +,,-.. /nalysis This directive form in management style is restrictive and gives way to high stress among employees and ultimately poor performance, (0ailey, )112.. There is little doubt the managing director is e#periencing some difficulty in his 3ob and is apparently ma$ing little contribution toward its success. ndeed, the writer was advised that some years before the managing director had suggested that the company conduct a mar$et study of future need for water valves in the Caribbean and was told that he was out of order in ma$ing the suggestion, ( nterview )+-, +,,-..

+. Table) an" "%a,ram), when judiciously employed, will greatly enhance the paper and the argument it may represent. ,! picture is worth a thousand words,- is a sound maxim and it wor s very well in a paper or a report. .. Re(eren$e) must be used to support the point that the student is ma ing. !s noted earlier, an opinion is not a fact and cannot be accepted, unless it is bac ed by years of experience in the topic area. Then it becomes a judgment and is acceptable when it comes from a senior manager who is quoted as the source. /. 0eferences should follow the !ssociation of !merican 1sychology 2!1!3 style, or equivalent. 0eferences from the Internet must satisfy the following items and all must be included in the bibliography# a. There is an a#t-!r who wrote the article or item and b. The t%tle of the item or article, and c. The source is an accredited, a#t-!r%tat%'e an" re)p!n)%ble !r,an%.at%!n such as the !merican 4ar eting !ssociation. (logs are not acceptable T-e paper !r rep!rt m#)t %n$l#"e a b%bl%!,rap-+.

5hether the paper is a 0*1&0T, that follows an outline 2see below3 or it is an *SS!6, the principles of writing a good paper prevail. The document must be developed from researched materials from library, interview, Internet or other published, credible sources. In the case of a report to management an acceptable form of noting the referenced material is to use footnotes so that the manager who is reading the report can instantly identify the source by glancing to the bottom of the page. In the university it is more appropriate to use an !1! or 407 form. *8!417* &9T7I:* Mar&et%n, Strate,+

$. Introduction to the report or paper %. Statement of the current situation '. 1ossible situational analysis of threats, problems or opportunities. +. Identification of mar et or mar ets being considered .. !nalysis of mar ets, research issues. /. Segments and targets ;. Strategy in terms of 1roduct, 1romotion, <istribution and 1ricing. =. Implementation, strengths and wea nesses of management, needs to bolster shortcomings. &ther > (usiness plans, 1roposals, 0esearch reports etc.

All!$at%!n !( Mar&)
The following is a general approach to allocating mar s as out of ten points Type and caliber of research effort 9se of research and developing argument ?redibility and conclusion of the wor &rganization, tables, etc ' ' % %. $@

GROUP /INA0 REPORT

!ll group reports must contain a sheet that attaches the name of each participant to the area and items that they were responsible for in the preparation and creation of the final report. N! rep!rt w%ll be mar&e" w%t-!#t t-%) pa,e en$l!)e"1 It is the instructorAs prerogative to assign an I:<IBI<9!7 mar for the report. *ach individual must complete the following 1**0 *B!79!TI&: and hand it in to the instructor along with the report or individually.

University of West Indies

Group Project Evaluations

Peer Evaluation Form

Business Course _______________Student_______________________
Students in each group are required to fill in the following form to determine each persons contribution. Rate yourself and each of your group members on the following parameters: the time and effort spent on the project the quality of inputs

Use the following 5-point scale for this purpose. nter the number from this scale that you thin! most appropriately describes each persons contribution on the two parameters. 1 Poor 2 3 !

____________ _____________ ____________ ____________ E"cellent "ame ffort Score #$bo%e Scale& (((((( (((((( (((((( (((((( (((((( ((((((

'our name: )ember *+: )ember *,: )ember *-: )ember *.: )ember * 5:

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/lease ma!e any comments that you ha%e regarding this group on the bac! of this sheet. 0his is due with your final report.