This paper will be your unique, scholarly contribution. With each option, I am just giving you a broad topic. It is up to you to address the topic but support it with empirical facts, theory, and a persuasive argument that is appropriate for a Master’s level program. Remember that this paper is a THEORITICAL PAPER. This class is all about theory. If you FAIL TO GROUND YOUR PAPER IN A THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK – you have not met the goals of this paper. This paper is supposed to answer one of the questions below – THROUGH THE USE OF THEORY. I cannot say this enough; it is not enough to address one of the options below. It has to be substantiated through theory and peer-reviewed resources. Your opinions do not constitute a research paper.

Option 3: Chapter 3, explores general concepts of organizational behavior, including the all-important area of workplace communication. We all know that communications excellence is essential for productive institutional operations, so it is fitting for this to serve as the focus of our practitioner application. Specifically, you are to place yourself in the role of Administrator for a soon-to-be-established primary care practice. Your CEO has asked you to lay the foundation for successful administrative operations. Among other things, it has been requested that you direct attention to designing a workplace communications framework which will facilitate for productive operations. As you are the administrative expert, specific decisions are your responsibility. Your task is to design and describe in detail this workplace communications framework. Possible Deliverables for Option 3: – Explore the importance and challenges of communication in a healthcare setting – Describe the process of communication using a theoretical basis – Find unique ways that communication could be improved (i.e. if you only write about memo’s you will not do well on this paper) – Explore barriers to communication and how you will address and overcome these issues – Address the case inquiries in full, being absolutely certain to do so not as a layperson, but as a healthcare organizational behavior expert, making sure to reference theory, findings in scholarly articles, etc. to justify your positions. Merely providing personal opinions which are unsupported is insufficient and will be grounds for failing this assignment. You must use the tools offered in your readings, coupled with those acquired by additional research, to address the case professionally.

The Submission Requirement Your submission in its entirety must be between 2500-3,000 words – this EXCLUDES the reference, title, and abstract. The 2,500 to 3,000 words is only the body of the work. It is to be typed (or pasted) directly into Turn-It In. Given the length of the submission, it is advised that students prepare it in a word processing program, and when finalized, copy and paste the text into the Turnitin. When you submit your work – you need to name your paper as your name (last name, first name) and the title. For example, my submission would be “Lord, Justin – Sample Paper.” Your submission will be assessed for originality. Your paper cannot exceed the 20% limit for as the guidelines set-up in Turnitin. You are citing scholarly work but even with quotes – your work will not be accepted if it is above the Turnitin threshold. If your work does exceed that threshold, I highly recommend that you retract your paper and refine it before the resubmission date. However, if your paper does not exceed the 20% limit, I highly recommend that you only submit in your assignment ONCE. Once you submit your paper it will be added to the database that Turnitin reviews. If you resubmit your paper, if it is not necessary – your original paper will already be included in the database – your similarity score will increase dramatically (close to 100%). If you resubmit your paper – you need to take a screen shot of your first submission and your second submission and send that along with a copy of the original and revised paper to your academic coach. If you have problems with formatting your submission, consider using Windows Notepad, as it is very effective for transferring distortion-free text into the Moodle posting window, after which you can add formatting directly in Moodle. HCAD 701 – Fall 2019 Mid-Term Assignment You are writing a research paper in the context of your case. As such, it should be a scholarly work. Your work should demonstrate a competency of the material that you are writing about. This work should also demonstrate the fact that you are in a Master’s program. Typos, poor grammar, punctuation, failure to follow direction, and obvious errors will be penalized. You have plenty of time to work on this paper so it should reflect your level of effort. Unlike a proctored exam – YOU HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER YOUR GRADE for this assignment.

Your submission must be supported by 10 (minimum) scholarly references. The max number of references is 40 (maximum). What is a scholarly reference – it is a resource that has undergone the peer review process. Newspapers, websites, personal experiences ARE NOT SCHOLARLY REFERENCES. Scholarly references come from academic peer-reviewed journals. If you cannot ascertain whether a journal does or does not qualify as scholarly academic, please contact the Noel Library and request assistance. Citations are to be prepared in accordance with the standards set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Be sure to consult the style guide itself, as database listings often contain formatting errors which are not compliant and can hurt your grade. If you are writing about the current healthcare environment (i.e. competition, market structure, patient demographics), I would find the most recent literature. However, for some of the theories or the theoretical based literature – often we will have to cite “seminal” research that can be decades old. It is not recommended best practice to have all older literature as the field is constantly growing and changing. However, if there are some works that you believe are the cornerstones of your theory(s) than I would use them regardless of the age. I would not include more than five articles that are older than 15 years. Keep in mind that this is a formal research paper. As such, it needs to be written in third person. APA –Citation of References If you do not know how to cite your references correctly, I highly recommend that you utilize the resources at your disposal: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/a… mat.html http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-book http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-… These are auto-citation websites/ resources EndNote http://www.citethisforme.com/ If you do not know how to find scholarly articles than please look at LibGuides, entitled “Distance Learners/Dual Enrolled Students: Getting Started.” This LibGuide will illustrated how to search for books, journals, Interlibrary Loan requests. HCAD 701 – Fall 2019 Mid-Term Assignment The LibGuides List is on the right-hand side of the page under Library Quick Quick Links. See the link below. http://libguides.lsus.edu/distance_learners_dual_e… If you are struggling to find appropriate journal articles, I may suggest checking the back of each Chapter in the Organizational Behavior in Health Care (if you have a copy of the book). Dr. Borkowski lists out the articles that she referenced when discussing each theory. Another suggestion is that you take one of the seminal journal articles about a particular theory and you put it into Google Scholar and see all the other journal articles that reference it. You can then search for healthcare related articles from that one resource. APA Format Couple of little tidbits of info regarding APA if you’re interested…. APA doesn’t require a heading for the Introduction. A paper would generally begin with the title, unbolded, centered at the top of the page. Then your “main headings” will be centered and bolded, each main word being capitalized, and then subheadings within these mainheadings will be left aligned, bold and each main word capitalized. EX.: This is the Title of My Fake Paper This would be where I would write out my introduction, being sure to summarize the rest of my paper and explaining the purpose of my paper. (BOLD) Main Heading This may be where I discuss a certain topic, maybe theoretical assumptions, but if I am going to break down these theoretical assumptions, it is helpful to divide even further with second level headings as below. (BOLD) Heading for Second Level Here I would get even more in depth and subheadings can be broken down further and further. I use Purdue Owl as a reference to remember how to break these down when needed. Link: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/a… eadings_and_seriation.html

Other Paper Important Info In presenting your work, identify the title, your name, student ID number, and submission date in the title slide of your work. It is recommended that you include the following sections in your paper: – Title (Name, Id Number, Date, Title) – Abstract (200 word synopsis/summary of your paper…think of it as a paper movie trailer) – Keyword: List your Option Selection – Introduction (one-two paragraphs) HCAD 701 – Fall 2019 Mid-Term Assignment – Case Inquiries Addressed Introduction (body of paper; use sub-sections as you deem necessary) – Review and Application of Theory (body of paper; use sub-sections as you deem necessary) o You need to demonstrate a significant degree of knowledge regarding the theory you choose. o Support with theories that are appropriate for each case o Recommend you review the existing literature to further explore that theory and how it has been applied – Discussion (Tie the theory back to the case problem) – Conclusion (one – three paragraphs) – References (APA style) Assessment Criteria Your submission will be assessed based on the following: Compliance Quality: The degree to which your submission complies with noted guidelines, including word count (2,500 to 3,000), reference/citation specifications (minimum 10 scholarly references), and adherence to APA style. Use of Theory: Your paper has to incorporate theory in a manner that helps you address your topic area. We expect a robust write-up of the theory(s) that could help others understand the theoretical grounding. Communication Quality: The degree to which your work meets standards expected in business communications, including matters concerning the use of proper grammar and punctuation, Content Quality: The quality of the content presented in your work.