Better Health Services for Veterans: An Analysis of the Veterans Choice Program
Organizational Analysis: Problems and Solutions
This paper option involves identifying, contextualizing and offering solutions to an
organizational problem. In addition to the elements that appear in the “Manuscript
Guidelines” on pages 5-6 of the syllabus, your organizational analysis paper should include:
(1) background information on the origins of the organization, including its mission; (2) a
description of the organizational structure –detailing the number of employees and the
hierarchical levels of the organization. Be sure to include (3) policy recommendation(s): a
series of recommendations specifically designed to target whatever organizational problem
you have identified in the process of carrying out your organizational analysis. Your
proposed policy may be informed by your literature review, the course readings, exercises,
and/or classroom discussions. Your policy recommendations must be realistic and “doable.”
Final recommendations should also reflect your depth of knowledge about the
organizational policy itself and the needs of the organization. To be sure, designing a
tailor-made policy requires creativity, vision, and a talent for solving organizational
dilemmas. Feel free to draw on literature to inform your policy recommendations.
The Seven Wanna Be’s:
Be creative in selecting a topic. Be flexible enough to modify your topic if necessary. Be
tenacious in finding sources in the literature to anchor your topic. Be passionate about your
topic. Be disciplined and systematic when working on the project. Be prepared to collect
information on your topic via one or more techniques including: in-depth interviews,
archival research, participant observation, etc. (see Creswell for details and more
examples). Be receptive to learning something new about yourself as the research process
unfolds.
MANUSCRIPT GUIDELINES
Title Page
Table of Contents
Abstract or Executive Summary (not to exceed 150 words)
· Purpose
· Method
· Results
· Overall Conclusion
Please be aware that your specific outline may slightly differ depending on whether you have elected to write an organizational analysis or policy analysis paper.
ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION ITEMS:
1. FORMAT: All papers should be typed, double-spaced, on 8½ by 11 inch white paper. Use 12-point typeface and be sure to staple your paper together or provide a secure binder clip.
2. HEADINGS: Use the above section headings for your paper. You may use additional sub-headings if necessary, but be sure to use the main headings listed above.
3. CITATIONS: There are at least two ways to cite authors in the text of your paper. You may give the last name of the author(s) and year of publication (i.e., Jones (1999))—a comparatively easier approach relative to footnoting. Include page numbers whenever you quote directly from a work or refer to specific passages: (Jones 1999, p. 29). Or, you can use a footnote—a more challenging approach. You may go with the first option while using a footnote, note for citations, but, used sparingly, to clarify a point or provide additional information.
4. REFERENCES: All references cited in the text must be listed in the references section and all references must have a corresponding citation in the text. Provide the full reference including full name, title, date, publisher, and page numbers (for periodicals). References may take the following form:
Proofread: All documents should be proofread before handing them in. Asking a friend or
colleague to read your work is a good way to detect errors. Errors: Papers with errors in
spelling, grammar and punctuation will be marked down accordingly. Length: As a rough
guide, your final paper should not exceed 50 pages—not including references and
appendices. Numbering: Your pages should be numbered with the Table of Contents and
Abstract as lower case Roman numeral (i) and (ii) respectively. Your introduction should
begin page 1.