Compare and Contrast Paper
Management and Leadership
Purpose
To identify and then compare and contrast basic aspects of leadership and management in relationship to your personal career goal.
General Guidelines
- Your paper must be written in APA format, which includes rules for title pages, headings, general appearance, internal citations, and a references page.
- A paper with the appropriate level of research and detail will be about eight to ten pages. If your paper is shorter than that, it is likely that you have not been as thorough as needed.
- You must use at least four distinct sources, one of which should be your textbook. You may not use Wikipedia, About.com, similar encyclopedia-like works, or the dictionary as a source. Consider the reliability of your sources. For example, journal articles from sources in our online library will generally be more reliable than pages that come up using Google. To emphasize, you must cite sources internally and on a references page.
- Your final paper is due in the second-to-last unit. It will be scored according to the rubric that you will receive with these instructions. Each dimension/section of the rubric (e.g., “Management Concepts,” “Leadership Concepts,” etc.) is of equal importance. You will add the final paper to your CampusConnect portfolio.
Activities
- In the introduction to your paper, describe your personal goal for formal work. (My goal is to work in the field of . . . doing . . .) Be as specific as you can. Your introduction should include a thesis statement.
- Identify three specific management practices or concepts that you will apply to your desired career. Explain each of these concepts thoroughly with the support of research from your sources. For each concept, also give specific personal examples to show how you can apply these concepts. Be sure you are describing management concepts in this section. This will require research beyond the textbook.
- Identify three specific leadership practices or concepts that you will apply to your desired career. Explain each of these concepts thoroughly with the support of research from your sources. Textbook and non-textbook sources must be included in this section. For each concept, also give specific personal examples to show how you can apply these concepts.
- Compare and contrast the management concepts with the leadership concepts. In other words, identify and explain several ways that management and leadership concepts are similar; then, identify and explain several ways that management and leadership concepts are different.
- Present a strong conclusion that ties together your career goals, management concepts, and leadership concepts.
