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MGT5062-IU-SP18 Case5 Propose topic

Florida Institute of Technology

Department of Extended Studies

Virtual Site

MGT5062-IU-SP18 Logistics policy

Dr. Paul Battaglia

Case5 Propose topic and other parts related tao the project/paper BETA

2 percent of the course grade

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Read this case/assignment.

Do sufficient “research” or background review so that you are confident that you have a viable topic.

******* Note that this case covers almost ALL ASPECTS of the project/paper.

See the various parts below.

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Normally Individual work.

--- Unless you are part of a self-selected team of two or three members. In that case all members should coordinate on the topic, scope, etc.

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How submitted.

TWO actions are required.

*** #1 -- In all cases (even if you are a member of a team) post your answer to the assignment box. If on a team, then all submissions should be identical for all members. Using a MS Word or compatible file usually works out very well.

*** #2 -- Send to the entire class (including instructor) using course mail. If on a team, then only ONE member needs to send to the class and the instructor. (But do remember to send the work or you earn a zero.)

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Your answers are due according to the class schedule. You may invoke an up to two week extension, but remember the associated grading penalty.

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Basic Copyright 2018. Dr. Paul Battaglia and Florida Institute of Technology for use ONLY in MGT5062-IU-SP18 for the Virtual Site. Any other use requires explicit written permission from the author.

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This note has seven parts.

Part 1 – Orientation

Part 2 – “Research”

Part 3 - Choosing a topic

Part 4 - Some possible topics

Part 5 – Proposing your topic

Part 6 – Working on your project/paper

Part 7 – Some guidance on presenting your results (project report/paper).

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Part 1 - Orientation.

You might think of this paper as a “project report” or the like. Of course, the framework will depend to some extent on the topic and approach that you have chosen.

Consider that you are presenting your results to the CEO, Directors, and other senior key personnel.

Do not assume great knowledge of the subject matter by those receiving the paper/project report.

The again, do not dwell on basics (e.g., multiple, pages of what logistics is).

You certainly want to BUILD on any information on the topic that is in the book and/or in the class notes.

EXAMPLE: The topic is humanitarian logistics. There is not so much in the book, but there is information in the class notes. So do not just repeat what is there and expect a nice grade.

EXAMPLE: The topic is warehousing operations. Obviously aspects of warehouse is covered in multiple chapters and in the class notes. There is a great deal of information as a “base”. Again, repeating what we already know is not the path to a good grade.

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Part 2 – Research

I usually try to avoid certain terms if they might “trigger” certain responses. These responses are not always positive or beneficial!

Once such term is “research”.

We are probably not going to do any original research from scratch. It would be nice to win a Nobel Prize (or some other high honor) for the work done in this class. But it probably is not going to happen.

But we can still do very interesting work! It still might be beneficial to think of the project/paper in terms of “research”.

There are five categories of research

#1. Pure research – new knowledge

#2. Applied research – practical use of what we know

#3. Technical or business research –applied research to make practical decisions

#4. Market research – study what consumers want (or say they want)

#5. Scholarly or academic research – gather materials already in existence; and then synthesize to look at the information in new ways.

Typically, we are interested in #2, #3, or #4. Of course we have the good fortune to be in an academic class so there is also the possibility of category #5!

What a research paper is:

#1. Synthesizes your discoveries.

#2. Work that shows your originality

#3. Acknowledges the sources that you used.

#4. Shows that you are part of a community of scholars.

What a research paper is not.

#1. A simple summary

#2. Ideas of others repeated uncritically.

#3. Series of quotations (or paraphrases, etc.)

#4. Unsubstantiated opinion.

#5. Plagiarism (copying ideas or work without acknowledging the source).

In a similar vein this is not what it is all about, either. The dad has reason to ask for a pause, no?

Part 3 – Choosing a topic

Considering the class that we are in, we are looking for a topic that is:

** related to logistics

** should have practice and policy implications

** be manageable in scope and depth so that your work can actually be completed in the time available.

Qualities of a good topic

#1. Enable you to fulfill the assignment

#2. Interesting to help motivate you.

#3. Will teach you and the class something.

#4. Manageable scope.

#5. You can add something to the topic.

#6. Enough information is available.

#7. Suitable for the audience (our course with mostly professional logisticans working at the graduate academic level).

#8. Can demonstrate abilities (e.g., skills learned in graduate studies).

#9. Usually is in the form of a question that we want to answer.

Topics to avoid

#1. Only has a single source of information (e.g., we are not doing a book or article report on one item).

#2. Reuse a paper from another course. It is possible to propose a topic that builds on work that you have already done. But in MGT5062 you must (a) submit a copy of the previous work with your proposal; and (b) explain how you are going to expand the prior work.

#3. Cannot do the work yourself (or the team cannot do the work).

#4. Too broad.

#5. Your conclusions are irrelevant.

#6. Cannot complete the paper during the course (e.g., depends on data that will not be available this term).

#7. Neutral topic. The answer to the question does not really matter.

#8. Seems to go nowhere.

#9. Popular (lots of work already done; the question is already answered).

#10. Highly controversial or emotional. In this case it is often more difficult to keep the ‘opine’ out of the work. Again, if you have a topic of this nature propose it and we will see if we can develop it for a satisfactory topic.

#11. A topic that you are going to “prove” or “show” or the like. The topic and q question should be reasonably open. EXAMPLE: You should not chose a topic to “show that container ships are getting larger”.

#12. Unsuitable for the audience. Remember this is a graduate logistics policy course. Logistics and a link to policy should be a major part of the work.

Part 4 – Some possible sources and topics

Of course there are a large number of possible sources and possible topics.

** One source is your own interests. In your introduction, many of you mentioned topics that you would like to see covered in the class. Since the class cannot cover all the proposed topics, you might be the one to cover that topic.

** Another possible topic source is professional journals. Many journal articles have a section near the end for areas of future research that is recommended by the author.

** Often a topic can be suggested in a wider circulation publication such as Time, Business Week, The Economist, etc.).

** Current topics can be good,. For example, NAFTA is being re-negotiated. Work on one or more aspects of NAFTA. HINT: Do limit your topic. For example, I suspect that you will not be able to do a great job on a topic such as “What aspects of NAFTA should be revised?”

** I suggest that you try to stay away from anything that is closely related to your current job. It is very easy to drift into a “this is how I do my job” paper. And that might be pretty interesting and informative in its own right. But it is not the type of project paper or report that we are looking for. [Both you and the class should learn from the work!]

Further, if you chose something from your job you might also run into a “bias” for a desired answer.

*** As researchers/academics we should not particularly care or have a vested interest in the results. We should not be trying to “prove a point” or “show that …..}”

*** In the workplace we often encounter a boss who needs something to back up a decision that has already been made.

*** In the workplace we might also have a timing problem. Your work needs to conform to the academic term. But that might not be the time-frame that applies to the workplace (e.g., the workplace needs it earlier or later than the dates of the academic assignments).

*** We are not advocates. For example, we do not want to “prove that the sky is blue at 12 noon”.

But we may have a question --- “Is the sky blue at 12 noon?”.

So the null hypothesis (Ho) might be the sky is blue at 12 noon.

The alternative hypothesis (Ha) is that the sky is not blue at 12 noon.

We don’t “personally care” whether the sky is blue, red, orange, or purple. All we want to know is the answer to the question (is the sky blue at 12-noon?). Hopefully we will have a yes or no answer.

In very loose academic terms, we want know whether we are accepting or rejecting the Ho. (I say loose because you may recall from statistics that we do not really reject the Ho nor accept the Ha.)

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REMINDER: Many of these topics have some content in the textbook or other course content.

In this case, you need to go well beyond the available information.

In most cases these are subject areas and so they are not formulated as a question. Once you decide on a subject area, then you can get specific and ask a question to be answered.

#1. Additive (3D) printers. Ho will the availability of additive (3D) printers affect logistics operations? You could provide forecasted changes in a number of logistics functions.

HINT from my experience after a few terms on this topic. Do not just have a series of quotes from (important) people saying how great additive printing is. Yes, no doubt there will be advantages. But do NOT forget the other side of the coin --- the additive printers will need a logistics/supply/support chain themselves (e.g., the printer, unique maintenance; technical database for the software needed to fabricate the items; the additive material or materials).

So we need to look at the net impacts.

When might it work well?

When might it not work well?

When you start seeing cartoons like this one, it may suggest that the topic is pretty well known..

#2. What is the impact of a refund policy?

This can be related to reverse logistics.

REI recently changed it refund or exchange policy from essentially anytime to usually within one year of the purchase There are some exceptions (e.g., manufacturing defect is still anytime; outlet items are 30 days).

Report on the refund policy impact, and analyze it from the perspective of management and especially logistics considerations. Is there any evidence that one refund policy is more effective than the other?

HINT: Do not forget that the text does have some material on reverse logistics. So you need to BUILD on TOP of that base.

#3. Global connectedness index 2012

DHL recently published the 2012 report on the global connectedness index.

Briefly report.

What are the trends in xxxxxxx?

Report and analyze some of the trends developed, etc.

Note: this is more than just a “book report”. Don’t spend inordinate time just explaining the index.

Rather we want to develop and then consider some of the trends.

#4. Delivering tomorrow Logistics 2050

Another DHL report/forecast.

If you don’t want to do DHL, then you might do a general search for future logistics; future supply chain; and the like.

Or you could look at two of these reports and summarize the similarities and differences. It is often “fun” to try to assess probabilities for the various outcomes. At your 25 th class reunion you can look at these projections to see how they turned out.

#5. Pick a management function (e.g., planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling, etc.). Analyze logistics concentrating on this aspect, but don’t exclude all other aspects.

 #6. What are the LMI (Logistics Management Institute) future trends? Try to determine empirically if there is support for the narrative justification.

You can find the LMI report at

http://www.guidance-research.org/future-trends/logistics

 #7. What is the impact on logistics of shifting to alternative information systems (e.g., cloud based IT)?

#8. How could unmanned (or automated) transportation (or material handling systems) impact logistics?

I’ve had two specific reports. One had to do with automated sorting in FedEx overnight delivery. What opportunities were opened up; and looking forward problems that this technology won’t be able to solve.

The other had to do with unmanned aerial delivery helicopter. Again, a bit on current developments; and then much on the projected impact on logistics functions in the future.

DO NOT forget that in November 2015 the FAA established registration requirements for drones based largely on weight of the drone.

*** In a topic like this it is often easy to lok at the “postyives”. But there are usually “negatives” to almost any topic. Balance suggests that we look at both sides of the topic. And then try to “net out” to reach a conclusion.

#9. What is the impact of projected material shortage on aspects of logistics.

One recent specific case dealt with a shortage of helium and the current/projected impact on logistics.

So you might pick another asset and do similar.

 #10. You might also consider topics for the class that you suggested (or were suggested by classmates). For example, a few mentioned that they were associated with military logistics. So it should be possible to do a compare-and-contrast between (a) civilian logistics as covered by –say -- the book; and (b) DOD logistics (or any other government agency – such as Department of Transportation or the UN humanitarian agencies or other governments such as the British/French/other countries.). Do not forget that this is not a simple list-both-sets-of-characteristics.

 #11. What are logistics similarities and/or logistics differences of humanitarian assistance and/or disaster relief operations?

Look at You can concentrate on US operations. But I think that you’ll be fascinated by the international aspects. Not everyone does things the way the US does.

HINT: If you do chose this area stay with one major source (e.g., the UN). Since logistics has many definitions if you try to use multiple sources, then the pieces are hard to link together.

#12. For those with an IT bent or an interest in compiuter algorithm.

How does a system work that determines (say) the optimal route form point A to point B?

How is a map of the US encoded so that it fitys into a file of only a few GB’s?

How do these work together?

#13. The use of metrics.

What are suggested metrics for logistics and supply chain operations? How have they been used? Did their use have any impact on logistic operations?

You might look at specific tools such as the balanced scorecard; or a performance dashboard. What companies/organizations actually use these? Can we assess the impact? Did the use make any difference in logistics operations?

What are some metrics useful for logistics operations and how have they been used?

#14. You can take a managerial technique or a quantitative tool. How does the technique or tool relate to logistics? Who uses this tool? What are the operational impacts?

Example? Use of linear regression to set a performance standard.

#15. How can we use qualitative measures in logistics management?

#16. Logistics management in light of Project Management or Program Management. How might either help to improve logistics management?

#17. Compare logistics flow with supply chain flow. Compare and contrast supply chain management and logistics management. What are the differences? What are the similarities? Policy implications?

Reminder: this has some pretty extensive coverage in the text.

#18. Look at the impact of specific “non-logistics policies” on logistics.

EXAMPLE: What effect would changing the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for motor vehicles have on logistics? What are these impacts? Favorable or unfavorable?

EXAMPLE: What impact might a change in greenhouse emission standards have on logistics?

#19. International topics are usually good. Look through Chapter 14 in the textbook. A relatively recent topic is the use of the Logistics Performance Index for inter-country comparisons. Briefly what is the LPI? But beyond that how do the factors (currently six) offer an opportunity for “management” to improve the rating and actual performance?

HINT: The temptation is to say that country XYZ has a score of [whatever] ion this scoring element. They can do better by doing the rating elements better.

#20. What is the impact of intermodal logistics and transportation? Might pick a specific metric and trace changes in performance.

Comment: But need to go well beyond the usual definition and examples because the textbook does a pretty good job on the basics.

Also stay away from the simple history of containers and container freight movement. (;-)

#21. You can certainly look at your own workplace for topics. A few words of caution

*** Don’t make this a this-is-what-I-do-for-my-job.

BUT you can show how in your workplace you use logistics tools and the impact (good or bad) on operations.

You need to be aware that you should not “pull any punches” in your analysis, conclusions, etc. Your boss may not really want to hear that there is a wart or two on the operations; and that things are not going particularly well.

Also, the TIMING of the work is driven by the class schedule (all work needs to be done by the end of the term). You cannot leave the assignment undone because the organization’s schedule did not mesh with the class term.

 #22. What is the impact of cooperative standards on logistics (logistics policies)? Good and bad. Need to go beyond the “standardizing container specifications facilitated a huge growth in imports and exports”.

#23. Have not thought about this too much. But the idea seems interesting.

In recent news Egypt is about to open an enlarged Suez Canal. What might be the logistics impact of the expanded capacity? Impact on logistics policies?

Similar situation for the closer-to-the-US Panama Canal.

#24. Have not thought about this too much. But the idea seems interesting.

What is the impact on logistics operations and/or policies of f racking natural gas and oil in the US?

Or might look at another country.

#25 Similar to #24. What is the impact on logistics and logistics policy of changing petroleum prices?

#26 Take a document (such as the NATO/OTAN logistics handbook). Do a compare & contrast between (say) our textbook or US DOD policy. Don't forget that a mere comparison is not enough. Need to draw conclusions on policies, etc.

#27 What is the role of price/cost (cost/benefit) and resource availability in considering and adopting a logistics policy?

Might be able to make this more general by looking at market forces.

Be aware that cost/benefit analysis covers a wide range. For the US federal government check the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circular on cost/benefit analysis.

Or another source (e.g., another country).

#28. What is the impact of a policy to ………..?

In a recent class we had a topic that SHOULD have been a killer-topic. But because the work was not properly developed, it turned out to be among the worst papers I have ever seem.

Brief outline.

** The US military services (and the Army as the target case) use a large amount of consumable supplies. There is a considerable cost.

** One metric that is of interest is the “average wait time”. Wait time is the time between the requisition of the needed item and the receipt by the requester.

** Policy was developed that management of (most) consumables would be transferred from the Service (e.g., Army. Navy) to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). For the purposes of this paper, the objective was to reduce the average wait time.

So the work could have proceeded very nicely along the following lines.

** Describe the situation.

** Get the information on the average wait time BEFORE the policy was implemented. Use whatever period the researcher justifies as appropriate.

** Get the information on the average wait time AFTER the policy was implemented. Again the researcher justifies the period.

** Note (as you may recall from statistics) the length of the before and after periods do NOT have to be equal.

** Hypothesis can be developed by the researcher (e.g., before and after wait times are equal (policy had no impact); AFTER wait time is smaller than BEFORE (desired impact); or AFTER wait time larger than BEFORE (bad impact).

** Compare the two trends (before & after). For example, could use the average wait time for a number of months before and after the policy change

** Reach conclusions (answer the questions!)

** Write the report.

Alas, the person did NOT collect the available information. And then tried to rely on two quotes to show that there was probably a good impact. Boo. Waste of a nice little topic!

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You could do similar impact analysis for almost any policy change as long as you can get the metric data before & after the policy is implemented. And this type of analysis makes sense!

Part 5 – Proposing your topic (Case5)

In past classes, most people have been ok using a one- or two-page MS Word (or compatible) document.

Please keep in mind that the project/paper is a major part of the course (in total 20% of the grade). So develop the topic accordingly. Be reasonably sure that you can actually do what you are propsing!

 In your proposal you should answer the basic communications questions of

who?, what?, when?, where?, why?, how? , other?

You are NOT required to select one of the topics in this note.

You are free to select a logistics related topic of your own. [When you post your proposal into the assignment I do a quick review. I usually offer comments. I usually approve the topic. Hopefully we should not have any major problems late in the class.]

I’d prefer that we have no duplicate topics. So try to coordinate among yourselves on the topics. Coffee house and /or course mail are just fine. I will also have a discussion for you to bounce ideas on topics. You do not need to include the instructor in course mail (but you can include me if for some reason you want to). If we do get a duplicate topic, then

(a) it will not be an ax murder;

(b) we can see how two “professionals” might differ on what the future (e.g., log policy) holds for us; and/or

(.c.) you can coordinate so that the specific topics are not covered identically.

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Part 6 – Working on your project/paper

** You (or your team) have a good deal of independence in working the project and making the project report (paper).

** It is very easy to procrastinate, get behind, and then need to “crash” at the last minute. Note that in the class objectives you do NOT see an objective such as to-have-the-student-stay-up-until-4-AM-the day-the-report/paper-is-due.

** When doing your work, please keep in mind that this an academic institution and so in large part we do have an academic orientation. In many parts of life (including in the workplace) the source of the information and the quality of the source are important. In a job environment you may not need to use in-text citations. But if you are asked for the source of some information that you used, the source should be available and should be solid.

*** In an academic environment, of course, the source and in particular the quality of the source is important. And the requirement is to include information on the source in the paper/report.

** This is not just a “book report” or the like. If you base your starting point on a published source (such as some of those listed below) then you need to describe that. Most topics tend to be oriented to HISTORY (and hence it tends to be backward looking).

Keep in mind:

*** This should be policy oriented if possible (after all this is a Log policy course).

*** Many of the topics are at least mentioned in the textbook or the supplemental material.

Be SURE that you use the covered material as a starting point. You can assume that most of the class reading your report understands the text and materials.

FOR EXAMPLE: you do NOT need to spend pages on the definition of logistics.

You can certainly include the definition of logistics that is being used.

A figure on the supply chain or logistics chain might be appropriate. Could point out which areas are affected by the topic.

And then move out smartly from there.

Similar for any topic in the textbook. A quick reference and summary should suffice. Then you move on from there.

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Part 7 – Presenting your results (project report/paper)

For starts, you might try thinking of this as a “report” rather than just a quick typical 15-page paper for a typical class.

*** If you need some help then the APA manual has some suggested report formats. Other formats that you might be familiar with might work. For example, content-wise a military staff study format should be pretty close to the APA suggested format.

*** A format that might work for you is:

--- Title page

--- Abstract that briefly covers the who, what, when, where, why, how, and the results.

--- Table of Contents

--- BODY of the report

---- Introduction describes the situation, and specifically states the problem or the question to be answered.

--- Assumptions. If you need to make any assumptions, then it would be appropriate to have an assumptions section near the front. Be sure that we do not just assume-away the question/problem.

--- Method or discussion. Explain how you did your work. Normally this covers at least (a) background work that you did (more formally a literature review on other work that has been done on the topic/question); (b) the materials that you used; and (.c.) the method of analysis or synthesis that was used.

--- Analysis. It is usually useful to have a separate section that shows the analysis.

--- Results.

--- Conclusions. Be sure that you have a very clear, in-your-face answer to the question or questions that we were supposed to get the answer for. For example, if the question was “Is the sky blue at 12 noon?”, then you should have the answer on whether or not the sky is blue at noon. You might have nuances --- in sunlight the sky is blue; in cloudy weather the sky not blue. Etc, etc.

Be sure that the conclusion has face validity (i.e., makes common sense to the reader). For example, it should only take a few seconds of thought to realize that if the sky is cloudy at 12 noon, then the sky is not apt to be blue.

So a blanket answer “yes, the sky is blue at 12-noon” would not seem to make much sense.

--- Recommendations. Any recommendations that are appropriate for the work that was done. If there are no actions for the decision maker to take, then the recommendation might be something like “Note this analysis and the results.”.

If there is an action, the recommendation might be to implement the action, For example, “To direct that the policy on …… be approved and implemented.”

--- References and information sources

In any case (even at work) we should always be prepared to back-up our work if asked to.

The Florida Tech preference is for APA style. However, a reasonable approximation of other styles is ok (e.g., Chicago style). In the academic climate of a graduate course, we should use both (a) in-text citations; and (b) end of document reference list. (Or equivalent for other styles such as footnotes or endnotes.)

We should have in-text citations to facts, ideas, concepts that are not our own. Do not spend hours worrying about the exact final APA format in the reference list (but many formats are easy and we should use them when we can --- such as an article in a prominent journal).

**** In the references list a URL by itself is NOT acceptable.

**** In the body of the text, a URL is NOT acceptable (close to an ax murder).

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*** The question/topic and the report should be policy oriented to the extent possible (after all this is a Log policy course)

*** Many of the topics are at least mentioned in the textbook or the supplemental material. Be SURE that you use the covered material as a starting point. You can assume that most of the class reading your report understands the text and materials.

FOR EXAMPLE: you do NOT need to spend pages on the definition of logistics. You can certainly include the definition of logistics and then move on from there very rapidly.

A word about the available information. Even in the real world we almost never have all the information that we would like. And we often are tempted to make broad generalizations from minimal information. For example, the approved topic for a recent paper was inventory management in Japan. Fair enough. But in the actual report/paper, the person limited the topic to Just-in-time for only one major Japanese company. The person then attempted to draw very broad conclusions on how ALL Japanese companies handle inventory management (not just JIT). See the PHB and Ming below.

Here are some general guidelines on the paper/report (from the policy to the more mundane such as preferred type).

*** The overall situation is that this is a business operation. Accordingly, we need to use business approaches to communications, reporting, and the like.

*** The “topic” is the project; the work that you have done; and the results/conclusions.

*** No specified length. The first requirement is to cover the topic! Then again it is hard to cover a decent topic is (say) fewer than 15 to 20 pages of solid work. The boilerplate is not included (e.g., cover, abstract, references, tables or figures that you choose to put on a separate page).

*** Page format is standard 8 ½” x 11 without background (i.e., standard white paper). Of course you will be submitting electronically unless special coordination is made.

*** Set to print on only ONE side. In most cases, the printing is in “portrait” mode. If you do use landscape, then be sure that the document self-adjusts the screen or the printer. You should not include instructions such as “view or print page 20 in landscape”. Related: be sure that the document prints correctly.

** Margin is 1 inch on all sides.

*** Type face for the body of the manuscript is Times New Roman, 12 point, normal.

*** Type face for Tables, Graphs, Figures, Pictures, etc. is Arial 10 point (or Times New Roman 10 point). Put a box around these items with the Title inside the box, centered at the top.

*** Note on type faces: Times New Roman and Arial are usually specified because virtually all software and printers support these. Assume that we start from a grade of zero and work up. So if you use specialty types, keep in mind that if the instructor cannot read the paper, then it is exceedingly difficult to earn a good grade on the paper.

*** Spacing:

· (a) Double space the body of the manuscript.

· (b) Single space direct quotes of +40 words, indented five spaces on the left margin, use no quotation marks and double space before and after.

· (c) Single space References with a double space between each citation.

· (d) Start each major section at the top of a new page.

· (e) Single space copy in Tables, Graphs, Figures, Pictures, etc.

·

*** Page Numbering: number the pages. The top right hand corner is preferred. Numbering the cover as page 1 is ok. In my view, for these assignments it is not really worth the trouble to try to adjust page numbering!

*** Running Head: use a running head that includes your name and topic (e.g., Battaglia – general guidance on case).

*** Paragraph indenting: Five spaces.

*** Must submit the ecopy in MS Word or compatible format. Do NOT attempt to use extra fancy or complex features. For example, do not link the paper to an outside table that requires access to the internet. I tend to read these reports in hard copy and so fancy connections do not tend to work out very well. Ditto for the workplace. Can you really assume that the boss will be on line? Or maybe even more important, that he/she will want to fool around with links that may or may not work?

*** In answering our questions as researchers we should NOT really have a personal interest in the answer. We are not advocates. For example, a question might be “Is the sky blue at 12 noon in the US?”.

So the null hypothesis (Ho) might be the sky is blue at 12 noon.

The alternative hypothesis (Ha) is that the sky is not blue at 12 noon.

We do not [or should not] “personally care” whether the sky is blue, red, orange, or purple. All we want to know is the answer to the question (hopefully a yes or no).

In very loose academic terms, we want know whether we are accepting or rejecting the Ho. (I say loose because you may recall from statistics that we do not really reject the Ho nor accept the Ha.)

*** Use some kind of a logical document structure. Do not make this one 25-page essay with no headings, etc. In most cases where there are specific questions the questions should be used verbatim.

*** Use strong sources. In most cases WIKI’s and the like are not considered strong sources for graduate work.

*** Remember that MGT5062 is not a course in cut-and-paste (nor copy-and-paste). I can usually tell by the writing style if long sections of a paper have been “lifted”.

*** Have the paper in as final format as you can. For example, most people use one MS Word or compatible file. Given that this is a major product of the class, you should work to include tables, charts, and such in the main document. Only in exceptional cases should you use a separate file for an appendix or table (e.g., refer the reader to the chart in Excel).

Good hunting!

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The basics of APA style citation!

With one exception, every item cited in the text should (must) be in the Reference List.

Corollary: every item in the Reference List should (must) be cited in the text.

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The sole exception is when personal communications are cited in the text.

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