The purpose of this assignment is prepare you for the workforce and practice critical thinking.  The research shows that most employers feel graduates are not prepared for the workforce.  “In a 2019 report, the Society for Human Resource Management found

MGT 561 – INDIVIDUAL Case – Fall 2025

Individual Case (10% of the overall grade)

Due Dates               October 25

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is prepare you for the workforce and practice critical thinking.  The research shows that most employers feel graduates are not prepared for the workforce.

“In a 2019 report, the Society for Human Resource Management found that 51 percent of its members who responded to a survey said that education systems have done little or nothing to help address the skills shortage. The top missing soft skills, according to these members: problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity; the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity; and communication [emphasis added]” (Wilkie, 2019, para. 6).

(Wilkie, 2019)

Knowledge and Skills
This assignment will have you practice ongoing learning (reading a business text), create a thesis (purpose for your work), conduct secondary research (using the library databases and the Internet), organize that material in a logical format and then follow a set format (APA style).

Bhuiya (n.d.) noted the number one hard skill reported to be missing from graduates by Payscale was writing proficiency.   Three of the top five soft skills missing were critical thinking, attention to detail, communication.

Task
There are basic rules about a case analysis to follow. First, do not submit them in question and answer format which is not appropriate for case analyses. Your case analyses must be composed in essay format and adhere to the following APA style and formatting guidelines, which will help ensure a solid grade on your case analysis.

1.      Include a title page containing case name, course identification, date, your name, and your instructor’s name.
2.      An abstract is not necessary in a short case analysis.
3.      Write your case analysis in essay style with a tabbed first line in each paragraph. Make sure to address each case question thoroughly. You are suggested to commit a minimum of one paragraph to answer each question, two if necessary.
4.      The content of your analysis must be at least 1,000 – 1500 words. This does not include the title page and the sources in the Reference section.
5.      The case analysis must include at least three heading sections from “How To Write a Case Study.”
6.      The document must be double-spaced, the font must be in Arial or Times New Roman, and the font size must be 12-point. There should be no extra white space anywhere in your document which includes line breaks and/or page breaks. The document must have one-inch margins all around.
7.      Include a References section with your sources. Do not use the terms Bibliography or Works Cited.
8.      Include and cite at least three scholarly sources for each case, and list these in the References section. There must also be at least five citations throughout your document with at least one being a “direct quote.”

THIS PARTICULAR CASE WILL NOT INVOLVE IMPLEMENTATION

The aforementioned items must be followed in all assigned cases. Not adhering to these guidelines will result in deductions from your overall score. Hence, all of the aforementioned factors are used in grading your cases. Additionally, the rubric on the following page will be used to grade your case analysis. You are strongly recommended to print this document for reference.

Avoid using all of one type of source (newspapers, Internet, databases, books).  You MUST use the University Databases and Reputable Internet Sites (Entrepreneur, The Houston Chronicle, Fast Company, etc)..  You CANNOT USE WIKIPEDIA.

Answer the Basic Research Questions – Who, What, When, Where, Why? When, and How?

Criteria for Success
You will be graded use the provided Rubric by the professor.  This can be found in the Individual Case Module for this class in Canvas.

Make sure you have a
·       Proper Cover Page (see the Individual Paper Module and Google Drive )
·       Table of Contents
·       Cites (APA)
·       Reference Page (APA)
·       Required number of references (5 plus your case)
·       Pagination (Starts with the cover page)
·       There are no running headings

You should submit to TurnitIn prior to final grading – Individual Paper DRAFT slot.

A 10% Match is allowed within COBA.  Anything over that will be reviewed by the professor for acceptability with regard to plagiarism issues (format, proper cites, and references).
****Anything with over 60% will receive deductions.  Papers with a 75% or higher match may receive a 0.***
****PAPERS WHICH HAVE A 100% MATCH WILL BE GIVEN A 0.  There will be NO resubmission.****

***CITES ARE REQUIRED***

A PAPER WITH NO CITES WILL BE DOCKED FIVE POINTS (5) OFF THE BOTTOM LINE OF THE GRADE WHETHER THERE IS A 10% OR A 40% PLUS MATCH.

Bhuiya, C. (n.d.). The skills gap is real: 8 skills you didn’t know you needed. Goskills.            https://www.goskills.com/Soft-Skills/Resources/Skills-gap
Wilkie, D. (2019, October 21).  Employers say students aren’t learning soft skills in   College. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
          https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-           relations/pages/employers-say-students-arent-learning-soft-skills