Description

Question:

The purpose of this preparation guide is to provide you with some direction concerning the content, process, and structure of your final Course Project, which is an individual conflict resolution paper. Included in the sections below is some helpful information that will prove to be valuable with respect to facilitating your completion of a Course Project that is reflective of the high standards of quality work and personal learning that should be the aim of each participant in the course.

Guidelines

Members of the class are required to prepare a session project, not exceeding 12 pages in length (excluding appendices), on the broad theme of workplace conflict resolution. Within this broad theme, the project is intended to be an opportunity to explore, in some depth, a topic related to the course that is of specific significance to you.

In developing the project, select a specific conflict situation that is of interest to you. Think of yourself as a conflict resolution consultant, and assume that a key manager has requested a thorough analysis and recommended a course of action to resolve an actual conflict that will make a difference to the future performance of the organization.

A Few Final Suggestions for the Course Project

• Use the section headings in this guide as subtitles for your project. It makes it easier for the reader to find all of the elements of your project.

• Use this guide as a checklist. Make sure that each item is included and is located in the right place. This will ensure that you don't leave things out, and it will make reviewing your drafts and your final project much easier.

• Review the project grading rubric posted in Doc Sharing.

• Review the literature review guidelines below.

• Your task is to search the management and conflict resolution literature to (1) discover the most common underlying causes of the type of conflict symptoms you have uncovered and (2) discover the various solutions to conflict resolution that may apply to your particular situation.

• You should supply some commentary on what you find. Don't just describe what's written in the six articles. You should talk about the concepts, ideas, or insights that have the most value for helping you make sense of your project. Which theories can you use? Which writers say something of value, and why? Which models are the most helpful, and why?

• You should cite at least six sources in addition to the course text (six is B-level work; A-level work would cite more). Although newspaper articles can be excellent sources of information, it's important that not all of your citations be newspaper articles. You should access articles in management and conflict resolution journals as well.

• A good place to start your review is in the course text and in the chapter notes at the end. Then, you can access Keller's online library and its search engines. You can enter keywords, such as perception and conflict , and you will access recent articles on the subject. Scan the titles of the articles that come up, and look for interesting ones to read in full. Also, be sure to check the references of interesting articles or books; they will lead you to others. If your initial searches don't produce what you're looking for, try using different keywords. If you find yourself totally spinning your wheels, send me an e-mail and ask for help.

• Cover page: Include who you prepared the paper for, who prepared it, and the date.

• Table of Contents: List the main ideas and sections of your paper and the pages on which they are located. The illustrations should be included separately.

• Introduction: Use a header on your paper. This will indicate that you are introducing your paper. The purpose of an introduction or opening is to

• Body of your report —Use a header titled with the name of your project (e.g., "The Development of Hotel X—A World Class Resort"). Then proceed to break out the main ideas. State the main ideas, state major points in each idea, and provide evidence. Break out each main idea you will use in the body of your paper. Show some type of division, such as separate sections that are labeled, separate groups of paragraphs, or headers. Here you include the information you found during your research and investigation.

• Summary and conclusion —Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your report. Minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of the ideas and how they affect the tourism industry.

• Work cited —Use the citation format as specified in the Syllabus.

1. Apply a three-step process of writing: plan, write, and complete.
2. Prepare an outline of your research paper before you go forward.
3. Complete a first draft and then go back to edit, evaluate, and make any changes required.
4. Use visual communication to further clarify and support the written part of your report.
5. You could use example graphs, diagrams, photographs, flowcharts, maps, drawings, animation, video clips, pictograms, tables, and Gantt charts.
6. Introduction and conclusion: Your papers should contain an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction should set forth the key points that will be covered in your paper. It is helpful to review the assignment very carefully so that your introduction reflects that you will be discussing the key points of the assignment in your paper. The conclusion should summarize the key points that were discussed in your paper.
7. Citations and references: In the body of your paper, and possibly in the introduction and conclusion, you will be using references from other sources (e.g., words, thoughts, ideas, definitions, etc.). It is very important that you cite your references in the body of your paper using proper citation format. Also, for every citation that is in the body of your paper, there should be a corresponding mention on the reference page. This reference should also be in proper format.
8. Always, always, always carefully proofread and check the spelling, grammar, and punctuation in your paper.

Literature Review Guidelines A literature review is a written discussion of published or unpublished research, commentary, and information on a topic. The literature refers to books, journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles, company records and documents, and even personal interviews with knowledgeable industry conflict resolution experts.

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

Include, in the introduction, a reason for the audience to read the paper. Also, include an overview of what you are going to cover in your paper and the importance of the material. (This should include or introduce the questions you are asked to answer on each assignment.)

Additional hints on preparing the best possible project are as follows.

In summary, as you prepare your papers for this class, please note the following general guidelines for papers in this course.