Business and Management

A white paper is an authoritative, informative guide or report that aims to identify a problem, propose a solution, or assist in decision making. In short, the purpose of a white paper is to inform and persuade. The intended audience of a white paper could be the general public or possibly an organization or groups of organizations looking to address needs or find solutions to problems. The author’s main goal again is to be persuasive and to ensure she addresses the needs of her audience.

The content of a white paper should include the following basic elements. Start with a compelling introduction where you present the problem and summarize your solution succinctly in a paragraph or two. Next, present the problem or describe the opportunity in more detail and support your description with solid, factual evidence. Then, describe a baseline solution to the problem. Lastly, present your solution as the best possible solution. Complete your white paper with a conclusion that restates the problem and presents your approach to understanding or solving the issue.

When it comes to formatting a white paper, there is no right or wrong way nor is there any single method or approach. You may want to create an outline before you begin writing to assist in the clear flow of content for your white paper. A white paper may or may not feature a title page and abstract. You also may wish to include images, charts, graphs, and other figures to back up your claims and capture your audience’s attention. There is no set page limit for white papers either. It depends on how much space you need to convey your compelling message. Just keep your audience in mind when determining the length of your white paper. Remember, the overall goal is to be persuasive, informative, and call your audience to action.

Additional Resources

Purdue Online Writing Lab – White Paper: Purpose and Audience

Assignment Instructions

Imagine that you have been asked by a large company, with more than 500 employees in various levels of the company, to prepare a white paper on motivation techniques. Specifically, they have always relied on incentives and bonuses to motivate their employees and they are interested in exploring alternatives.

• Looking at recent research in the field, as well as the resources offered in this activity, describe various motivation interventions and take a position on the effectiveness of these motivation techniques.
• Locate examples of organizations recently (within the past 5 years) in the news due to their efforts to motivate employees. Support your discussion of motivation techniques by including at least two examples of organizations that were able to successfully motivate their employees.

Support your whitepaper with at least five research articles published in peer-reviewed journals in the past 7 years.

Length: 5-7 pages

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

Your final assignment is to prepare a development guide for fostering effective leadership skills. The target audience for this guide includes first-line managers and supervisors who are seeking to develop their leadership skills. The guide should provide useful information and tips to review what to do and why in order to help these managers/supervisors become self-aware, effective leaders.

Your guide should address how to devote time to self-awareness and how this knowledge will enable them to improve as leaders. The goal is for these managers to use the guide daily for 14 days and track the action(s) they took each day to create a positive change.

Your 14-day guide should help motivate users — from contemplating simply how to develop their skills into formulating clear steps for specific training and development actions. Each “day” should address a different element of leadership development and your suggested activities should be supported by best practice and scholarly research. Your guide should also provide users with:

• A description of at least five important skills or competencies necessary for effective leadership.
• Information regarding how to assess their current leadership skill levels.
• Recommendations for how to identify their personal leadership or managerial style.
• Tips or exercises to identify and develop their strengths.
• Tips or exercises to identify and improve upon their weaknesses.
• Developmental assignments or self-directed activities, which would increase the effectiveness in the identified leadership competencies.

Finally, your guide should provide a place for users to track their goals, reflections, and progress.

Length: 12-15 pages, not including title and reference pages

References: Support your guide with at least 10 references published in peer-reviewed journals in the past 7 years.

Your guide should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

You will create your video presentation by using a video capturing tool located in NCUOne. To access the video capturing tool, follow the tutorial found in your Books and Resources for this Week. Create a video that addresses notable lessons learned from research about cross-cultural leadership. Be sure your video addresses issues related to:

• What is “cross-cultural” leadership and why is it important to understand?
• What cultural dimensions are related to leadership?
• How does culture influence the acceptance and rejection of leader attributes/behaviors?
• Are there any leadership behaviors and attributes that are endorsed universally across all cultures? If not, why not. If so, provide examples.
• Are there any leadership behaviors and attributes that are rejected across all cultures? If not, why not. If so, provide examples.
• What are some culture-specific leadership characteristics (i.e., leadership characteristics favored by some cultures, rejected by others)? Provide examples.

You will create your video presentation by using a video capturing tool located in NCUOne. To access the video capturing tool, follow the tutorial found in your Books and Resources for this Week.

Length: 5 to 7-minute video; 1-page document for references

References:  Support your video with at least three references to peer-reviewed sources.

Your video should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly and current APA standards.