Improving Organizational Performance Incorporating

Purpose

This assignment will help you learn to do the following:

• Incorporate appropriate ethical principles and a public service perspective into professional decision making.
• Perform analysis for administrative problem solving and decision making.
• Evaluate and recommend strategies for improving organizational performance incorporating effective human resources, information systems, and financial and political management practices.
• Develop and evaluate plans for implementing recommendations for improving organizational performance and advancing the mission of government and nonprofit organizations.

Overview

Throughout your graduate program, you have written a variety of documents; memos, academic papers, reports, presentations, etc. Through the use of these multiple styles (media) of writing, you have been prepared to write this professional paper. Writing an effective, well-presented, professional paper (or report) is an essential skill for the professional public administrator. The main purpose of a professional paper is to inform the audience as clearly and succinctly as possible while providing credible and persuasive support for the conclusions and recommendations made in the paper.

Keep in mind that how you present the information in your paper is almost as important as the information itself. The writer should take into consideration the audience for the paper and present it in an easy-to-read, organized, logical manner that is professional in its presentation. For example, Stimson offers this advice for making tables reader-friendly:

“Tables should always be composed so that a reader can pick one up and understand its content, without having read the text. That means it must be fully self-contained, depending on nothing that is explained only in the text. The opposite is also true; a reader should be able to skip the table and understand the analysis completely from the text …

[For instance,] The title should convey something to the reader about the logical role and meaning of the presentation, what is being tested and how. The reader is asking, ‘Why am I looking at these numbers?’ And the title should answer that question. Titles tend to err on the side of being too short, of not saying enough so that readers can figure out what the numbers mean … [Also,] Abbreviate nothing [in your table verbiage].”

• • Review the assignment instructions and the rubric. Your paper must address all required elements.
  • Review APA formatting and citation requirements. All citations and your reference page must adhere to APA guidelines.
• Revise Your Paper: Make changes based upon your review of the paper and feedback from others. Correct any outstanding errors such as in APA citations or formatting errors. Ensure that the paper is easy to read for your audience.
  • Your paper should be between 25 and no more than 50 pages, not counting the title page, table of contents, reference page(s), and appendices. However, the Appendix section should not be used to circumvent maximum page requirements with material that should be in the paper.
  • Format and Structure: Use 12-point Times New Roman, double space, and 1” margins. Your paper is to follow this format and sections:
    • Title page, running head, page numbers
    • Table of Contents
    • Introduction: Indicate the purpose of the paper and describe the significant, real-world administrative problem or policy issues with administrative elements that you investigated. Include your thesis statement or purpose statement. Include an explanation of your proposal and your success in accomplishing it. If your paper is written in response to a specific issue for a specific organization, the introduction should include background information about the organization. If you used specific key terms, the introduction should include these terms and their meanings.
    • Analysis: This should be the largest portion of your paper. It should present your analysis of data, facts, and evidence you have completed to analyze the administrative or policy implementation problem you presented in the Introduction. The body of the paper should include a discussion of your findings or results and key assumptions and generalizations you are making. The headings and subheadings for this part of your paper will be unique to your paper. However, keep in mind that your analysis must apply and synthesize concepts and theories from your graduate program coursework and elective coursework. Properly cite information you gain from your research. Keep in mind that your paper is to be written in your own words. Analyze the information you gathered during your research, synthesize it, and write the body of your paper based in your thoughts and ideas.
    • Recommendations and Conclusions: In some ways, this section is the most important part of the paper as you are presenting your conclusions about and suggestions for addressing or remedying the administrative or policy implementation problem you have analyzed. Recommendations and Conclusions sum up the main points of your analysis and recommendations are your suggestions for future action by the organization and or policy. Your recommendations must be justified from a political and ethical perspective.
    • Implementation Analysis: The Implementation Analysis section is to identify key issues and challenges of implementing your recommendations and also important impacts that implementing the recommendations could have on the organization. This is where you demonstrate that you understand the practical, management challenges and implications for an organization that chooses to carry out your recommendations. Make the case for why it is feasible, beneficial, reasonable, and realistic to implement your recommendations. Be honest about the challenges and impact. Your analysis should address budget, human resource, technology considerations, resources needed, and any other notable considerations. If appropriate, provide a general implementation timeline.
    • Conclusion
    • References: Keep in mind that you are to adhere to APA guidelines.
• Do a Final Proofreading: Once you have your paper in a final format, perform a final proofreading that includes:
  • Submitting your paper to Grammarly (Links to an external site.). Make any necessary revisions.

NB: While the written paper is important, equally important is the ability to effectively present the information to the correct audience in a manner that is understood and applicable. To this end, you are to develop and deliver a presentation that communicates the key ideas from your report to your audience.