Improvement Proposal

One important goal of conducting research is to contribute to furthering the shared knowledge about a topic in the field. One way to achieve this is to publish articles in academic journals or deliver presentations at professional conferences, where you share the details of your research in a way that others can verify and replicate your work. In this Assignment, you will practice publishing the findings of your research.

This week you will submit your Final Project, which can either consist of conducting a literature review on a selected topic that is relevant to productivity improvement in the public or nonprofit sector (e.g., motivational programs, training, TQM, job enrichment), or designing a productivity improvement project for implementation in your present (or future) job.

The result can be written up in the form of a paper or a PowerPoint presentation. The paper should be 8–10 pages long. If you choose to create a PowerPoint, the presentation should be the equivalent length (for examples, see the sample final reports). Your work will be graded based on thoroughness of the discussion and appropriateness of presentation (e.g., professional appearance and correct use of concepts).

Caution: Do not submit a literature review that resembles one you may have submitted for another MPA class (e.g.,POL 622 or POL 606). This should be original work.
Suggested Outline

1. Summary of Improvement Proposal
   • Briefly summarize your project benefits and implementation process
2. Background
   • Discuss the current process and problems (symptoms).
   • Add a process flowchart.
   • Discuss the reasons for undertaking the improvement.
   • Discuss elements from the various course materials that are pertinent to the problem.
3. Productivity Improvement Opportunity
   • Describe the proposed productivity intervention.
   • Discuss how the intervention addresses the above symptom and relates to the stated reasons.