Project Paper

Final Project

OVERVIEW
The purpose of this final project is for you to reflect on the importance of the HRM design process on the creation of strategic advantage. You will complete an organizational analysis that identifies an area of improvement in the HR function for an organization, analyzes the cultural and economic environment, proposes an HR plan that addresses the need for diversity and inclusion of underrepresented employee populations, and discusses the challenges to this plan. You will also submit and discuss an annotated bibliography.

Course objectives covered in this project include CO 1, CO 2, CO 3, CO 4, CO 5, and CO 6

GENERAL PLAN
Part 1: Annotated Bibliography
In Week 4, you will post an annotated bibliography with 10 peer-reviewed journal articles. It will also be posted in a discussion forum for all students to use and discuss.

Review the instructions for Part 2 of the final project and choose your industry before you begin your research. Look for peer-reviewed journal articles or legitimate industry white papers that focus on the following areas:

● Culture
● Economics
● Technology integration and workflow
● Inclusion or diversity
● Challenges of incorporating technology to run the HR function

In the discussion forum post, reply to at least one other learner with a substantive post that focuses on how they could improve their work and/or provide some questions you have when you read their work. If this was being presented to you, what would be your concerns? Make suggestions on how these could be addressed to eliminate these questions before final submission. Provide a minimum of two scholarly references.

The following materials will assist you in developing your annotated bibliography:

● Taylor, D. (2016, July 16). Mastering the annotated bibliography: Part 1 [Video]. YouTube.
● Taylor, D. (2016, June 16). Mastering the annotated bibliography: Part 2 [Video]. YouTube.
● Taylor, D. (2016, June 27). Mastering the annotated bibliography: Part 3 [Video]. YouTube.
● Taylor, D. (2016, June 29). Mastering the annotated bibliography: Part 4 [Video]. YouTube.

The expectation is that the guide to writing the annotated bibliography will be appropriately applied. Each annotation should have, at a minimum, two paragraphs. Do not copy and paste from the article into the annotated bibliography. The content should be in your own words to capture the usefulness of the article to your research.

Part 2: HR Plan
Your HR plan should be 3000 to 5500 words (12 to 20 pages) in length. Use the headings in the instructions below when completing the final project HR plan.

Introduction: [Maximum 1 page] ● Introduce the entire paper (not just the problem). Use the Harvard College resource to assist you.
● Write the introduction last. Complete the rest of the paper and then come back to write the introduction.

Organization Profile: [Maximum 2 pages] ● Industry
● Organization overview: Create an overview of what the company does and its mission. You may use a similar type of organization in the industry you have chosen. Do not copy and paste.
● Identify the area of improvement for HR within this organization (e.g., selection, training/development, performance management system, succession management system). Note: You cannot reuse information from an earlier paper. This must be a new area of focus even if the organization is the same.

Culture Analysis: [Maximum 2 pages] ● Analyze the culture of the organization that is relevant to the area of your focus.

Economic Environment Analysis: [Maximum 1 page] ● The analysis should focus on the economic needs that you would have to implement your HR plan.
● Prepare an introductory budget for your plan. Would you need more people in HR? Would additional time for management training need to be added? Would you need additional technology resources? Note: This does not need to be exact, but should be an introduction for management to review when looking at your plan.

Improvement and Design Plan: [Maximum 7 pages] ● Define the improvement that you plan on making.
● Provide the contextual/theoretical foundation for this improvement.
● Clearly articulate the current status and why a change needs to be made.
● Identify how this change would equate to an improvement in strategic capability.
● Outline the elements of the plan, including a timeline for the transition.

Diversity and Inclusion: [Maximum 4 pages] ● Articulate a diversity and inclusion policy for the organization.
● Integrate this policy in the improvement. This should clearly explain how these two elements are going to be addressed in this HR improvement.
● Explore the legal and ethical ramifications of failing to integrate this area appropriately into the plan.

Challenges: [Maximum 2 pages] ● Identify the challenges that HR will face in implementing this improvement.
● Identify the stakeholders that might oppose the changes.
● Articulate a plan for overcoming the identified challenges.

Conclusion: [Maximum 1 page] ● Clearly and concisely wrap up the paper. Use the Harvard College resource to assist you.

WRITING AND RESEARCH RESOURCES
The following links provide online writing and research aids to help you with your paper assignments.

● OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University
● Writer’s Handbook, the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
● APA Guidelines
● Information Literacy for TESU Students (an online guide from the New Jersey State Library to assist you in starting your research, searching databases for articles, citing sources, using ILLiad to request books or articles, etc.)