Final Paper

As the global marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, it is incumbent upon human resources to broaden its strategic mission and become a strategic partner with executive staff. This requires human resources to have a detailed understanding of not only the human resources field, but the strengths and challenges of its organization, and the complexities of its industry. Through these units of knowledge, human resources can maximize its value by providing competent advice and counsel to its organization as it strives to achieve its strategic objectives.

The comprehensive Final Paper comprises four parts, with Parts 1, 2, and 3 submitted during the first three weeks of the course. In Week 5, a cohesive final paper will be due that includes Part 4, an executive summary, and the previously submitted Parts 1, 2, and 3. This final paper should be eight to ten pages and should incorporate any comments or suggestions made by the instructor on Parts 1, 2, and 3.

Focus of the Final Paper

In your final project, you are to choose a major problem/issue affecting an organization of your choice, and then utilize your detailed knowledge of human resources and strategic planning to develop a comprehensive plan that minimizes, and hopefully eliminates, this threat to your chosen organization’s ability to meet its long-range organizational goals and objectives. The components of this comprehensive project are as follows:

• Executive Summary: Your final paper should begin with an Executive Summary, which is an abbreviated capture of the entire paper and as such should touch upon all major points while engaging the reader.
• Part 1 – Overview of Organization/Problem (due in Week 1): Provide an overview of the organization and the problem/issue that challenges that organization. Next, detail how the problem/issue affects (or can affect) the future viability of the organization. Finally, discuss the principle role of human resources in an organization and how human resources can provide critical advice and counsel to the organization in addressing this challenge. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
• Part 2 – Environment Analysis (due in Week 2): Optimal solutions are determined when a researcher has a thorough understanding of a company and its industry, along with the strengths and weaknesses that impact its future viability. In the second part of your plan, perform a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats) on your chosen organization and provide an analysis of these results in light of the problem or issue under study. Be attentive to identifying how the problem or issue impacts the organization and its competitive position within the industry. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
• Part 3 – Financial Analysis (due in Week 3): Nearly every problem or issue confronting an organization has a financial or budgetary impact. For instance, staff turnover has not only a direct cost on recruitment expenses, training costs, and productivity, but also an indirect cost related to the loss of organizational learning. In Part 3, detail the financial implications to the organization related to your problem or issue, including the additional costs that may arise if the problem or issue is not resolved effectively. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
• Part 4 – Recommendations (due in Week 5): The final part of your comprehensive project incorporates your recommendations. Based on your work in Parts 1, 2, and 3, provide 2-3 recommendations to organizational leadership that would resolve the problem/issue in question. Be sure to detail any challenges the organization should consider in implementing your recommendations (culture, motivation, etc.) and your strategy to overcome these challenges. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.

Note that some of the information related to this project may not be readily available in course materials, requiring you to research contemporary management trends in the public sector.

Writing the Final Paper

The Final Paper

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.