Labor Relations Research/Term Paper Guidelines This assignment provides you with the opportunity to integrate various concepts you have learned in this course and apply them to a topic of your choosing. You will select a topic from the many issues, problems, chapter concepts, etc., that you have studied this term. (You may wish also to review the media stories provided within the content of our course—these media stories offer rich topics to research.) The report should focus on; 1. A clear and specific statement of the topic you have chosen and any interesting subcomponents that you consider relevant to your topic. I have provided five or six suggestions of topics below. You may wish to read these suggested topics for possible research topics and examples of ‘statements of topic.’ 2. You will need to select a topic with sufficient breadth to allow you to develop two or more subcomponents. Let me offer one or two examples of what I mean by subcomponents. If you will refer to Suggestion Topics #5 below, you will read that the topic is ‘to compare Japan Labor Unions and U.S . . . . etc.’ First, you could replace Japan with almost any country if you had a preference for Canada, Mexico (our two largest trading partner countries), or Costa Rica (if there is enough information on the smaller countries/unions). The subcomponents might be structured with something like the following: I. Similarities of XX country to U.S.; II. Differences; III. Features from Each Country Supportive of Economic Development; IV. My Personal Opinion of what is Right about XX Country’s Union vs. Wrong with XX. 3. You will include an Executive Summary—always helpful to your reader because it is your opportunity to summarize and provide key points. 4. Beyond the subcomponents and Executive Summary described in 1-3 above, you will want to include a Table of Contents, as well as an Introduction and Conclusion section(s) for your paper. Deliverables The final output of your work will be a paper up to 10 pages in length plus executive summary and table of contents (word-processed, double-spaced, 12 point font, one inch margins). The number of citations and sources is always an important question as you start your research. Like page length, the writer is the best judge of ‘when the topic has been covered.’ Because we are in a learning environment, however, let me suggest that you target 8 to 12 quality sources for your paper. You will then use citations in sufficient number so the reader will understand clearly the differences between your contributions vs. other published material (in other words, the quoted and/or paraphrasing of your sources). Let me also ask that you be careful in your choice of sources. The internet has both made our choice of source material more available and yet we all know that the quality of ‘all of the information we can find on the internet’ is questionable. Remember, once you use information in your writing, you become responsible for the quality and reliability of the content. Let me give you one or two extreme examples of the choices past students have made. One student used the internet to access established, referred/edited academic labor journals for the paper—great choices. One student used the internet to acquire all sources and citations from material that did not show the author’s name, date of publication, or the nature of the review process the material had passed through to reach your computer—such choices of sources are open to question by the reader. One or two ideas that might help you with your search: 1. if the information is important to your topic—try to find a newspaper, academic or professional journal that published the work or 2. Use a ‘balance of traditional and our new sources’ in your paper—do not rely on the internet only. You will be graded on the contents of the report as well as its presentation and professionalism. It is meant to resemble a formal business report and therefore should contain the following; • Executive summary • Titles and subtitles that reflect the content requirements described above • Bibliography of sources The term paper should be clear, precise, and reflect your insight through the application of your knowledge of our course topics, labor & corporate issues in the U.S., and problems/opportunities within our economy. A suggestion to help you reach your final product: You need access to a quality writing and style manual/book, etc. to complete you writing project. You are especially in need of one of these documents if you have not had substantial training with citations, headings, wording suggestions, reference list (articles, books, other print sources or electronic sources) etc. One of the many sources for this information is found in Strunk and White’s, The Elements of Style. Also, the American Psychological Association (APA) Writing Style is available in any quality book store. A great deal of information on writing and style issues can be found at the APA web site (e.g. look for APA Style Writing Assistance or just APA Writing Style). Suggested Term Paper Topics 3. How has the 1993 Family & Medical Leave Act affected business & labor unions? Possible references: Bernstein, A. (Feb. 1, 1999). Why the law should adopt more family leave. Business Week, No. 3614, 42-44. Gerstel, N., & McGonagle, K. (1999). Job leaves and the limits of the Family & Medical Leave Act. Work and Occupations, 26, 510-534. Jacobs, D. (1998). Labor and social legislation in the United States: Business obstructionism and accommodation. Labor Studies Journal, 23, 52-73. Jacoby, S. M. (2004). Employing bureaucracy: Managers, unions, and the transformation of work in the 20th century. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. Waldfogel, J. (1999). Family leave coverage in the l990s. Monthly Labor Review, 122, 13-21. Zall, M. (2000). The Family and Medical Leave Act: An employer’s perspective. Strategic