For your final project for this course you are to write a research report. Research reports characteristically report the results of library or experimental research. In this instance you will be writing an issue or position paper, in which you first summarize what you have learned about an important issue or problem in your field (while carefully citing your sources), then take a position on the issue and argue for some preliminary action or policy. Your report should include an executive summary and a reference list.

Please note that to complete this assignment successfully, you should begin your research early in the semester -- just as soon as your section completes its library tour. Start by browsing trade magazines and journals in your management major -- sources in which professionals working in the field publish, or to which they turn for information. You will need to decide on an issue of interest, and begin reading to find out about it: What is the core problem? Who are the interested parties? Why is it relevant to the field? Have any solutions been tried? Why is the problem or issue still unresolved? (You will write a memo and progress report, and give an oral presentation on this same topic, so choose one carefully -- and select one that will hold your interest throughout the semester).

What is an issue paper?

Issue papers play a role in the formulation of public policy concerning controversial business subjects. The purpose of an issue paper is to persuade individuals and/or a division of a company (usually one involved in setting policy), or, in the public sector, an appropriate legislative body, to follow a specific course of action -- either devising new policies, or enacting or refraining from enacting legislation that would affect the way a company or nation does business nationally, and/or worldwide.

Directions:

Write a 5-7 page issue paper on a controversial subject of interest and significance to the business community in your management major. This should be the same topic you chose for your oral presentation.

Tips for Proceeding:

• Find a topic. Survey the literature -- read business magazines, professional trade journals, major periodicals, perhaps one or two research journals. Then brainstorm a list of controversial subjects, keeping notes on your major sources. Choose a topic that interests you and on which you are able to find relevant information.
  
• Focus your topic. Is this a municipal issue? A state issue? A national issue? Find out the name of the person who is in charge of public policy in this area, and figure out what he/she needs to know about the issue. You will write the paper to your instructor, but assume that your instructor will want you to identify who could implement your policy or action recommendation.
  
• Research the topic, getting as deeply into it as you can. Use printed material (see first tip) as well as audio-visual media, arrange and conduct interviews with authorities on the subject, listen to as many different opinions as you can find.
  
• Summarize the main points of the different opinions. Discover not only where they disagree, but also where they agree. Why is this an issue at all?
  
• Evaluate these opinions. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
  
• Analyze your own position on this issue. Why do you hold the opinion that you do? Under what circumstances would you hold a different opinion? What constituencies would benefit from the policy that you advocate? What constituencies would suffer? Who "pays"? How do you justify this cost fairly?
  
• Draft your paper, beginning with an executive summary or abstract, followed by a description of the controversy, outlining the major positions, identifying who has the power or authority to implement policy or initiate action, and concluding with a specific description of your position, the reasons underlying it, and the specific action you'd like to see taken by the appropriate party or parties identified. (Note that sometimes executive summaries are written last, even though they appear in the beginning of the report.)
  
• Revise your paper at least once, paying particular attention to places where you seem to make unexplained assumptions. How knowledgeable about the subject does your reader have to be to understand the issue? What haven't you said? Why? What have you over-explained? Why? Ask two or three other people for their responses. It's helpful to find someone who holds a different opinion from yours.
  
• Write an executive summary, paying attention to tone and voice.
  
• Write a list of references, using the correct form.
  
• Write a title page and table of contents if necessary, and possibly a glossary also, if you think the latter would make your paper more accessible to the reader.
  
  • Note that usually this kind of report also is accompanied by a brief letter of transmittal to the appropriate authority, but you will not have to write a letter of transmittal for this assignment.).
• Edit everything to conform with impeccable business practice.
  

Why (and How ) do you "Document" Sources?

In the course of researching a topic and writing a report it is inevitable (and desirable) that you use material that you have not developed yourself: other reports, articles, etc.. Your sources will likely include books, periodicals, brochures, other reports, and so forth.

When you write your report, you are expected to identify these various sources of information -- individually within the text of your report (citations) and in a bibliography at the end (reference list).

By documenting your sources carefully, you demonstrate that you know how to do careful research, you give credit to those upon whose efforts you are building, and most importantly, you give your readers as complete a body of information as is possible.

Your readers should be able to distinguish your original research efforts from the database of literature (secondary sources) on the topic that is reported in your paper, and they should also be able to verify the accuracy and completeness of your research report by following up, if necessary, on your citations and tracking down your references. Your list of references is a key to your approach to a problem in research; it indicates the scope of your efforts, and allows readers to continue to build on your efforts by continuing their own investigation into the subject.

Because business is a "social science," the style of documentation most often used is either Chicago, or APA. (APA designates the American Psychological Association). In this course you will be asked to use the APA style, which uses a parenthetic author-date method of presenting citations, in which the author's last name and year of publication appear in parentheses following the citation. Each citation is keyed to a listing in the bibliography at the end of the report or article. (Note that "bibliography" is a generic term for a listing of sources; the APA documentation system calls this listing the "References" section.

When you use information from other sources you may either summarize, paraphrase, or quote directly. Your choice should be based on your objectives, but generally, quoting directly is done sparingly. You should paraphrase when you can convey the ideas of the material more concisely and effectively in your own words than in the original form. Quoting is done when the material is worded in a distinctive, unique manner that is interesting and difficult to reproduce, and when the quoted material adds credibility to your research efforts.

To accurately cite and list sources of information in your paper you should consult an APA style guide such as that provided in Donna Hacker's A Writer's Reference, the handbook you used in Basic Composition and SOM 491 Business Writing.

You should always acknowledge a quote by providing a citation and following formatting conventions for quoting; you acknowledge paraphrased and summarized material when it is not general knowledge. You acknowledge sources by citing them in the text using a documentation style guide or reference system (such as APA mentioned above).

Last Updated:
September 20, 1996