Final paper assignment for MGT 303 (Scully)

• Find a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article on a topic that interests you (a full article, not a short opinion piece or letter or book review). You can choose a topic that has “management” implications, but it does not have to be a management article per se. It is fine to choose whatever topic interests you.  The purpose is to be both an appreciative and critical reader of the business press – and to use your *free* subscription to HBR via Healey Library.
• This step, finding an article, may take some time. Remember that the reference librarians are there to help, if you have questions.
• You can browse from umb.edu:

Library à E-Resources à E-Journals à Harvard Business Review à browse past issues by clicking on a year and an issue (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, etc).

• And/or you can do a more purposive search, entering specific topic words:

Use a search engine – search on a specific topic – find an article à go to specific past issue. Once you find the article you want and what issue it is in (e.g., Jan/Feb 2014), go to that issue for free via Healey Library. DO NOT pay for an article.

• You can use contemporary or historic articles.

 

Paper structure:

• 1. Summary (About 1-2 pp)

Give a brief summary of the main points in the article.  Include research studies that ground the article and practical applications that the article proposes.

• 2. Definitions (About 1 p)

Identify 2 or 3 main concepts or terms in the article, preferably ones that are new to you.

Do some research to find their meaning and significance.

Define the concepts and terms and why they are important for the article.

• 3. Appreciative appraisal (About 2 pp)

Discuss the strengths and contributions of the article. Mention any “aha’s” you had in reading it.

• 4. Connections (About 2 pp)

Make connections – link the article to: a current issue or event, another article in the business press (here you can go beyond HBR), a situation from an organization that you know or where you have worked (all examples will be confidential), an article or case we read for class, an exercise or discussion from class, etc.

 

• 5. Critical appraisal (About 2 pp)

Provide a critical appraisal of the limitations of the article.  Assess the article’s own assumptions and recommendations, but also go beyond the article to situate it in a bigger picture. How do the concepts in the article relate to managerial dilemmas? to alternative ways to organize or run a business? to the role of business in society? to other broader issues of your choosing?

• 6. Closing (About 1 p)
• References: Give a full citation for the article you chose, and if you can, please attach the article. There is no need to add other citations. However, if you use other sources for definitions, comparisons, critiques, setting the context if you selected a historical article, etc, you must include those sources.  This is not a research paper, so the purpose is not find more citations.  It is a critical reflection on one focal article.