Your research paper may be written on one of the following topics:
- A Review of Leadership Theories
- A Review of Different Leadership Styles
- The Importance of Ethics in Leadership
- Corporate Culture (Diversity, Gender Differences, etc…) and Leadership
- The Socially Responsible Leader
- How to Develop Great Leaders
- How to Shift Leadership Culture from Negative to Positive?
- Positive Leadership
I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions as you decide on a topic. Do I find this topic interesting? Although simple, this question is essential. Your personal interest about an issue or topic can and will make a big difference when you are researching and writing your paper. Is the topic personally or professionally rewarding? Will your research answer questions about problems at work or provide you with a vehicle for professional advancement? Projects on work-related issues often result in visibility or frameworks for discussion with fellow professionals.
The paper should contain the following sections:
I. The Introduction
Describe why you chose this particular topic. Why do you think that it is an important issue in Executive Leadership?
II. The Review of the Literature
The Review of the Literature involves locating, reviewing, and evaluating resources that provide both background material and information on related studies. You must include a minimum of 8-10 sources in the review with the majority of sources being journals and periodicals rather than books. You may not use websites as sources in the review; however you will be using search engines, such as EBSCO, to locate appropriate sources.
As you review your sources, look for the major subtopics of the material and organize your literature under these various subtopics. It is important to organize your literature review in the sequence best ordered for a logical flow of the information. An article-by-article presentation, stringing them together, is much less appealing than a review organized by subtopics.
All material paraphrased, summarized or directly quoted from another source must include documentation within the paragraph. Directly quoted material should also include quotation marks. Failure to properly document imposes severe grade penalty, as it is considered plagiarism. Most paragraphs in your review should contain a citation as you are reviewing what other researchers and authors are saying about your topic. When including your opinions or experiences within the review, make it clear that you are doing so.
III. Conclusion
The concluding section of your paper should include your opinions and personal experiences about the issues raised. How will you use the information for personal or professional development? What advice would you give other professionals based on both your experiences and on the literature?
IV. References
Your Reference List is an alphabetical listing of your sources by author’s last name. If the source does not list an author, I prefer that you cite by the title of the article and then list by title of the article alphabetically in the reference list. With articles downloaded from EBSCO as well as some other sources, you will have the original citation. Use that original citation both within the paper and in the reference list. With other search engines, you will not necessarily have the original volume, issue, or pages, although you will have the date and the journal in which the article appeared. In that case, the complete web address should appear in the reference citation. When checking the sources cited within your literature review, I should be able to match them exactly to the reference section of your paper. Please check this before submitting the assignment.
This assignment is generally 13 pages in length and APA format is required.
