Assignment #3: Team Paper Due July 30

You have already received team assignments (the class roster with a number 1 through 6, constituting three-member teams). Assignment #3 won't be due until our class on July 31. Please note that Assignment #3 is not especially long, even though it will involve the work of all three team members. Here are specifics for the assignment:

1. See your assigned topic below.
2. Brainstorm with your team (either in person or electronically, perhaps using a wiki or google docs)
3. Decide how the three of you prefer to handle the drafting process, once your research has been completed. For example, some groups may want to meet in person to "talk though" the content of the paper. Others may want to circulate an outline electronically for team members to consider and revise before beginning the actual drafting process. Still other groups may want to divide up writing tasks, then carefully and seamlessly stitch the entire document together during the final editing and revision stage. Your work method is up to you.
4. Remember that I am available to help you. Although I am technically on vacation from July 21 to 31, I am "at your service" via email and, if you wish, by phone. You can send me any portion of your paper for comments and suggestions. (Obviously I would prefer not to grade completed papers twice, but I am eager to help you in the shaping process.)
5. Please abide by the style principles you have already discussed with Monika and the Eight Matters of Management Style I will emphasize in class on July 21.
6. Entire books could be written on any of the assigned topics. Your goal should be to narrow the scope of your inquiry to one or two central concerns of maximum interest to your classmates. All papers turned in will be shared with the entire class.
7. Length: no more than 5 pages of body text, not counting cover page and endnotes or bibliography. Please single-space, with double space between paragraphs. In a report of five pages, you will probably want to use a few internal headings, as illustrated in the sample reports in your Management Communication textbook.
8. Audience: your professors and classmates
9. Due: in class on July 31, in hard copy with electronic copy sent to bell@usfca.edu so I can distribute your paper easily to the rest of the class.
10. The paper will receive one letter grade, which will be shared by all three team members. If you experience dysfunctions on your team (for example, one team member does nothing), please communicate this problem to me so I can be fair in giving the correct grade to individual team members. If I do not hear about problems on your team, I will assume that things went smoothly and that all members contributed.
11. For a 5-page paper, I do not anticipate dozens of research sources, although I do not want to discourage your effort in this regard. Realistically, you may end up with eight or ten supporting sources that appear in your notes (footnotes or endnotes) and bibliography. I will pay attention to the currency and validity of your sources. (In other words, a quote from Wikipedia may not be adequate to support one of your key points. Business magazines and journals (perhaps as accessed on line) will be helpful in pointing you toward solid research studies. For many of the topics below, excellent books have appeared recently.

Assigned topics: Feel free to change your topic somewhat as your group decides upon its core message(s).

Team 1 Workplace Romance: Realities, Problems, and Solutions

Team 2 Flextime and Working from Home: Policies, Problems, and Potentials

Team 3 The Population Problem: Implications of Too Few Children in Many Major Trading Nations

Team 4 Offshoring and Outsourcing: The Dilemma of the American Worker

Team 5 On-line MBA Education: Costs, Quality, and Reputation

Team 6 Honesty Testing: Its Use and Effectiveness in American Business

Team 7 Causes and Solutions for America's Education Gap in Comparison to its Competitors

Team 8 Workaholics: American Schedules and Attitudes Toward Work in Comparison to Other Major Trading Nations