Describe the industry, sector, and other relevant information needed to situate your research in a broader context. Describe any trends (past, present, projected) related to your topic of interest

Module 6 Activity: Create an Impact Plan for your Applied Project 

• Due Tuesday by 11:59pm

 

• Points 200

 

• Submitting a file upload
• File Types pdf, doc, docx, and rtf

Instructions

For this assignment, you will develop an impact plan for your applied project or thesis.  Submit a 4 to 5 page impact plan following the instructions below. Please be sure to include each of the subheadings.

Your applied project will study a problem of practice, with the goal of creating a research-informed solution for that problem. The solution will be some form of deliverable. (See the examples in the MS-OGL start-up guide

, and please review this former OGL 550 student’s example

.

 1. Challenge (aka “problem statement”)

• Describe the problem(s) or issue to be addressed
• Why does this problem need to be solved? What are the consequences of not solving it?

  2.  Project Context 

• Information about the organization or issue you are studying. Provide an overview of the organization, its history, and unit/division/site you will focus on
• Context: Describe the industry, sector, and other relevant information needed to situate your research in a broader context. Describe any trends (past, present, projected) related to your topic of interest
  • External: describe relevant operating environment/industry issues. You can use categories, data, and findings from your PESTLE analysis if helpful.
  • Internal: identify organizational factors relevant to the problem, such as team dynamics, culture, employee turnover, policies, structure, etc.

 3. Proposed Research Solution

• How will your research respond to this challenge? What are you going to study? How are you going to study it?
• Describe the type of applied research you will do (e.g., cultural audit, SWOT analysis).
• Explain the rationale and methods for your approach. Why is this type of research the right approach for the problem you’re studying?
• What type of data do you need to inform your project design (e.g., qualitative, quantitative).
• Where and how will you find that information needed? Describe the data sources you will use to get this information.
  • Will you look at secondary/archival sources, such as organizational records, web documents, etc.?
• What concepts and theories can shed light on this problem (e.g., employee engagement, learning organization)?

 4. Summarize literature to justify your planned approach. What is known about the problem and potential solutions?

• Provide 10 references in your literature review with appropriate in-text citations.
• For example, if you are doing a project to identify the need for leadership development training, you would examine and summarize literature supporting why leadership development training is valuable to an organization. You would also review articles on leadership development practices that have been used effectively in other organizations. 
• Sources can include reputable industry publications, journal articles, industry research websites, etc. that help you to understand the topic and identify questions  needing to be answered to solve the problem.

 5. Analytical methods

• How will you analyze the data (e.g., pattern identification/thematic coding for qualitative; statistical analysis for quantitative, etc.)

  6. Beneficiaries

• Who will benefit from or use your research? Describe the intended audience.
• What value will your research results bring to each beneficiary?

  7. Deliverable

• What deliverable you will create (e.g., website, toolkit, handbook)?

  8. Envisioned Impact

• How will your research and deliverable help to solve the problem(s)? List specific anticipated outcomes.
• Consider cultural, economic, educational, environmental, health, political, social, and technological benefits. See this website for some ideas

  9. Ethical Considerations

• Show how you will ensure that your research doesn’t harm participants. Detail how you will first obtain their consent before engaging in the research. Explain how you will protect participants’ dignity and privacy
• Identify affiliations and funding sources that will support your research (if any). Declare any potential conflicts of interest.
• Explain how you will account for potential bias in your research design, data collection, and analysis.
• If you are considering collecting data from people or if you plan to publish your research, you will need IRB (Institutional Review Board)Links to an external site. approval to work with human subjects. Think about if your project has a realistic scope and timeline; Can your project be completed in 6-7 weeks?  Is it realistic to apply for IRB approval, conduct interviews or distribute a survey, transcribe and analyze data, research secondary sources, and produce a deliverable in 6 weeks? Consider focusing on secondary sources in developing your project/deliverable to support a manageable timeline.

10. Develop schedule/timeline specifying main project activities and when they will occur over the 7 week time frame of OGL593. 

• This section would list the major activities such as contact organizational representative, identify current training practices, identify gaps/training needs, identify client’s desired outcomes, research leadership development curricula, recommend training curriculum and sketch out what a pilot program might look like.

10. Reflection [This will not be part of your final prospectus, it’s only for this class]

• State initial assumptions you are making about your project
• Identify project limitations (what is in the scope of this study, what will it not address)
• Summary of your background/experience knowledge that qualifies you for this project
• What excites you about this project? Why are you interested in the topic? How does it connect to your professional aspirations?
• What concerns do you have? 
• Relate your project to at least two of the ideas we covered in this class. What have you learned here these past few weeks that could be useful as you conduct your applied project?

11. References

• Include ten supporting references, with in-text citations, to show where you drew information and ideas from. You can use APA formatting (e.g., in-text citations and a references page), footnotes, or endnotes. 

Technical:

• Submit a 4-5 page single-spaced impact plan. One inch margins. Times New Roman font.
• Ideally, your format and style will mirror that of your applied project organization (e.g., colors, font, tone). Or you can use your own branding template if you have a consulting practice (e.g., McKinsey, Bain & Co., Deloitte).
• Please include 10 references, cited consistently and appropriately (e.g., APA, MLA) throughout your document. Include a references list at the end of the document that follows your formatting style (e.g., APA, MLA).

Rubric