Running Head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 1

Master of Science Management and Leadership

Capstone: Task VST Task 2

Title of Your Paper in Upper and Lower Case

Your First and Last Name

Student Number

Western Governors University

TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 2

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 3

Background ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Business Challenge .......................................................................................................................... 5

Leadership Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 5

Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 6

Action Plan..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Timeline ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Long Term Organizational Impacts ................................................................................................. 9

Appendix A .................................................................................................................................... 11
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 3

Executive Summary
The executive summary should describe the most important aspects of the business

report. It should be approximately one page in length and should stand alone. It is not the

introduction. Instead, it should give the reader a summary of the entire business report.

Summarize the most important points of the project and provide enough information to

explain what the reader will learn. This should be developed after the business report is

finished.

Length: Approximately 1 –1 ½ pages, double-spaced

Format: Narrative
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 4

Background
Provide relevant information about the chosen organization, including each of the following:
 history of the company
 detailed description of the product/service offerings
 Services
 target market
 culture of the organization
 organizational structure
 number of employees
 location

Length: Approximately 1 – 2 pages, double-spaced

Format: Narrative (additional page if includes chart)
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What is the form of business ownership (i.e., sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, etc.)?

Briefly describe the context in which the problem is occurring. When did the organization
become aware of the problem? What actions, if any, have been taken to mitigate the problem?
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 5

Business Challenge
Summarize the business leadership challenge that you identified in task 1. Discuss your
observations, or the client's observations, as to why the business challenge exists.

Support the discussion with at least two specific examples of issues contributing to the business
challenge.

Leadership Analysis
Analyze three areas of leadership that are either contributing to or are impacted by the business
challenge.

Length: Approximately 3–6 pages, double-spaced

Format: Narrative
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Leadership area: Change management: Leadership responsibilities related to preparing, leading,

and reinforcing change in the organization.

Leadership area: Human resource management (HR) Leadership responsibilities related to

leveraging human resources to optimize organizational success.

Leadership area: Leadership/Leadership style Leadership responsibilities related to self-

awareness of leadership style and results, and ongoing self-development
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 6

Recommendations
Recommend solutions to resolve the business challenge while addressing each of the three areas
of leadership analyzed above.

a. Recommend solutions to address overall deficiency in the organization.

Length: Approximately 3–6 pages, double-spaced

Format: Narrative
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Leadership area: Change management: Leadership responsibilities related to preparing, leading, and
reinforcing change in the organization.
Leadership area: Human resource management (HR) Leadership responsibilities related to leveraging
human resources to optimize organizational success.
Leadership area: Leadership/Leadership style Leadership responsibilities related to selfawareness of
leadership style and results, and ongoing self development
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 7

Implementation Resources
Identify the resources and actions that will need to occur in order to carry out each of the
recommendations. These may include the following: people (leadership style), equipment,
tools, budget, and necessary processes to effectively implement recommendations
For people resources, include the leadership style required for implementation based on the
situational leadership model.

One way to undertake implementation analysis is to create a chart that identifies and assigns the
resources. See the following example:

Resource (people,
capital, Leadership Additional Hard/Soft
Activity equipment) Style Details Dollar Cost
HD Director will
hire four training
Hire four consultants to $6,000
HR
training facilitate Hard $, one-time
Director(person)
consultants workshops over a cost
six-month
timeframe.
New patient
Purchase
Patient management $20,000
patient
management system will Hard $, one-time
management
system ($20,000) provide end-to-end cost
system
solution.
Two laptops will
be placed in
$2,000
employee break
Hard $ one-time
Purchase two Two laptops room and access
cost includes 3
laptops (equipment) provided to
years
computer-based
maintenance
training products.

Length: Approximately 1–2 pages

Format: Narrative or chart
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 8

Timeline
Create a visual timeline that includes the start and end dates, milestones, and resources for each
recommended action or activity. A table, spreadsheet, or Gantt chart could meet this
requirement. See the following example:

Activity Start Date End Date Resource Planned

Duration
Identify, interview, and
10-1-2013 10-15-2013 HR Director 15 days
hire training consultant

Length: Approximately 1 page

Format: Table or chart
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 9

Long Term Organizational Impacts

Discuss the long-term ( 3- 5 years) organizational and/or financial impacts the company can
expect based on implementing your recommendations.

Length: Approximately 1–2 pages, double-spaced

Format: Narrative
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 10

References

Provide a reference list in APA format for every cited source in your report. Your sources should
be either academic or business sources. You should include at least three sources.

Length: Approximately 1 page

Format: APA reference list
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 11

Appendix A
Client Time Log

The number of meetings depends on your problem or business need. In some cases, three
meetings are sufficient, but more meetings might be necessary.

Please determine the client’s preferred method to communicate. Given scheduling issues, a
combination of methods is best, such as face-to-face, teleconference, and webinars.

Here’s a chart to keep track of these meetings:

Meeting Date Duration Location Summary of Key Action

# Points Discussed Items
Reviewed problem
Face-to- statement and
face identified key factors
that are contributing to
the overall issue.
Discussed business Interview
11-1-
1 90 minutes functions and talked HR
2013
about what was done Manager
previously to address
these types of issues.
Talked about success
factors critical to the
business.

Length: As required
Format: Chart
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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 12
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 13

Using this Outline: Critical Success Points

The purpose of this outline is to facilitate organization of Task 4.

Some points to consider:

(1) When submitting the template, please remove the instructions. Your final document
should contain only the headings and the content you added.
(2) A significant part of this work is narrative. Thus, please avoid bulleted lists. (One
exception is when charts are most appropriate.)
(3) Use Times Roman 12 pt. font.
(4) Per APA style, written narrative should be double-spaced.
(5) Write in an objective manner. You are a professional consultant, and the requirement is
to provide a viable solution to the client.
(6) Make sure to use sources, and cite them per APA Style.
(7) Your Task 2 work is contained within this document. If you have other items that add
value to this assessment, please include them as appendices.
(8) Page-length approximations are recommendations, but there is no specific page length
requirement.
(9) Please note that no more than 30% of submitted work should come from direct quotes,
close paraphrase, or your own previous work. The goal here is to synthesize material
and write in your own words.
(10) Only include sources in the reference list that were cited within the document, per APA
Style rules.
(11) For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the
General Instructions section.
(12) After making changes, please update the table of contents to mirror correct page
numbers.