MSA Training: Troy, Atlanta Applied Research Project in Administration A successful MSA 698 will . . . MSA 698

MSA 698 Must be administrative in nature (it must deal with an administrative issue) Must be related to your job and/or to your MSA concentration

MSA 698 Must be researchable (applied research and literature research) You may employ quantitative or qualitative research or a combination of both

MSA 698 Must be management in content, dealing with resources or allocation/use of resources Must have recommendations

MSA 698 Must comply with the student’s code of ethics—must give credit for the works of others Must comply with the current APA style manual

MSA 698 The project must actually have something to say-not just words Papers point to a research problem. Must show grasp of terminology. Must be submitted in a timely fashion: Establish timeline for component papers Completed and submitted by the semester’s end--- no extensions or Incompletes unless authorized by your instructor)

MSA 698 Papers become part of a portfolio ---Use a holistic approach ---Will want a common theme tying all papers together ---Example Consumers Energy ---Training costs associated with excessive turnover

MSA 698 Paper Proposals First: Students will give instructors a proposal before writing any of the papers- Instructor reviews the proposal and only after instructor’s approval should student go ahead and start their paper. Proposal and turn around of proposal can be done via email.

MSA 698 The proposal will contain 1. The name of the core course and what chapters from the text will you be using for your theory. 2. What objectives from the core course and syllabus will you satisfy? 3. What is the research importance of your project?

MSA 698 The Papers must be between 8-10 pages Executive Summary Introduction Body Conclusion Recommendations and next steps References

MSA 698 For the conversion of the proposal to the paper introduction, rewrite to past tense (not future tense) and the body of your paper should reflect work actually accomplished. Do encourage use of the Writing Center Once each paper is written, we start the review process and students get a FREE READ Free read on first 2 papers only

MSA 698 Before the paper is submitted for grading, ensure: ---The Free Read changes are made ---comment on why a change was not made ---APA style is correct ---Spelling and punctuation are correct

MSA 698 APR requirements now include: A title of 12 words or less A running head, to the left, of no more than 50 characters (including spaces and punctuation. Everything is to be double spaced—no more, no less 1 inch margins

MSA 698 APR requirements now include (Cont.): Each paragraph is indented 5 to 7 spaces Times New Roman, 12 point font—san serif may be used for figures Type is not to be flush right Indent direct quotes of more than 39 words

MSA 698 -All sources are referenced according to current APA style manual. -The Reference Pages lists all sources used in the body of the report, and all sources in the Reference Pages are in the body -Submit through safe-assign

MSA 698 Before submitting Ensure that you have a reference/source for any conclusion— “Most people think . . .” “In nearly every case . . .”

MSA 698 Ensure that the project us written in Third Person (per APA style) Thus, it does not use words like “I,” “Me” or “My.” Rather, words like “the researcher” or “the author” are used.

MSA 698 Ensure that credit is given to the work of others. If you are using a direct quotation, you should have included quotation marks, an APA style citation with a page number. For paraphrased quotes, the APA style citation is ample.

MSA 698 Ensure that the works of others have been given credit by source citation. (i.e. , Herman, 2015) Even if you have rewritten the words of others, credit must be given. If you have used the exact words of another within the text of your paper, you must enclose the words in quotation marks, “ ”, give a proper citation and it should include a page number.

MSA 698 For example: “In the study we found that four of five cats liked foods that contained fish,” (Herman, 2015, p. 12) Failing to give proper credit for the works of others, including the quotation marks where needed, is Plagiarism. A student may be removed from the program for Plagiarism.

MSA 698 Students should not “over-use” direct, or word-for-word quotes. While there is no established percentage for direct quotes, MSA 698 projects should not exceed 10% to 15% without approval of the Instructor.

MSA 698 Ensure that you have at least 8-10 pages per core course of your work. Only the pages within the chapters count. You must have at least 8-10 references, per core course paper. If charts, graphs, etc. clutter the paper, put them in the appendices.

MSA 698 Summary Paper 1. Think of it as an executive summary of your other 4 papers 2. Paper encompasses the salient points from your other papers 3. References would come from your other papers, as well as a few new references, as the case may be

MSA 698 Submit your project papers through SafeAssign Sit back, relax, and wait for your grade to be posted on Bb Watch Bb for constructive comments from your instructor.

What are the deliverables? Research papers (8 - 10 pages) for each of the core courses: MSA 601 MSA 602 MSA 603 MSA 604 Wrap-Up paper inclusive of previous papers (6 - 8 pages)

MSA 698 Questions?

Summary of MSA 601

Summary of MSA 602 Financial Analysis, Planning and Control COURSE DESCRIPTION   Study of financial analysis, planning and control techniques/methods, emphasizing mechanisms used to determine the overall financial health of private, public and non-profit organizations. Applied course so students can ‘hit the ground running’ upon graduation. 

MSA 602 Course Objectives IV COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 1. Oversee the administration of an organization’s financial management and managerial accounting practices and functions. 2. Describe the financial objectives of modern organizations and distinguish the similarities and differences between the financial objectives of private, public, and non-profit organizations.  

MSA 602 Course Objectives, cont. 3. Review, interpret, and understand financial statements and information to determine an organization’s financial position and health. 4. Apply analytical models used to evaluate financial performance. 5. Explain the role of budgeting in financial decision- making for long-term and short-term financial planning.

MSA 602 Objectives, conc. 6. Explain various sources of capital and how funds are raised by organizations. 7. Apply strategies and principles of financial management to the allocation of funds to secure the long-term profitability and/or goal attainment of organizations. All objectives with the understanding the student will be able to articulate the materials presented. 

Summary of MSA 603 Course Description This course is an examination of processes and approaches used by administrators to analyze internal and external environments to establish and accomplish long-term strategic organizational goals. Students should be able to apply many of the concepts included in this course during their first position after graduation. 

MSA 603 Course Objectives IV: COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 1. Evaluate internal and external social, economic, political, and technological environments that affect organizations. 2. Incorporate strategic planning development, implementation, and evaluation systems into various organizational contexts.

MSA 603 Course Objectives, cont. 3. Propose various strategic planning and administrative methods and strategies to successfully cope with the ambiguities, complexities, and implications of internal and external environmental factors on organizational functions. 4. Select and apply analytical models and decision- making methods to evaluate and solve administrative problems and enhance organizational performance.

MSA 603 Course Goals, conc. 5. Demonstrate an ability to incorporate into practice exemplary ethical principles leading to sound personal decisions and socially responsible organizational values and practices. 6. Construct and present analysis and decisions in both orally and writing form under critical appraisal. For MSA 698 submit ideas and recom-mendations to accomplish these objectives

Summary of MSA 604

End of Sessions I and II