Author: chris

Writing Expectations for Students at Indiana University School of Nursing

The writing

• Follows APA 6 format and style unless another style and format is specified for a particular purpose.
• Demonstrates original work, and where ideas or materials of others are used—including Web sites—work is not copied verbatim or paraphrased, and appropriate credit is given to the original source.
• Contains an introduction, purpose, body with sense of audience, and conclusion.
• Shows development, organization, and detail; the writing reveals the student’s ability to develop ideas with balanced and specific arguments.
• Demonstrates coherence within and between paragraphs.
• Reflects critical thinking, linking the specific to the general.
• Contains appropriate sentence structure, punctuation, and is free from spelling errors.
• Uses active voice (i.e., “The author used data…” Rather than “Data was used by the author…”).

Common grammatical errors

• Run-on sentences. Look for the words “and,” “but,” “though,” “or,” and “as,” which often are used to connect sentences inappropriately.
• Words or phrases that aren’t really words. Examples include “kind of,” “sort of,” “ain’t,” and “irregardless.”
• Ending a sentence with a preposition. Prepositions include “of,” “to,” “for,” and “from.” When you find these words at the end of a sentence you need to rewrite it.
• Misuse of “got.”  Often used erroneously in place of many words such as “have” or “acquired,” i.e., “I got the flu.” This should be written as “I have the flu,” “I acquired the flu,” or “I caught the flu.”
• Misuse of “that.” To check for the misuse of this word, read the sentence omitting the word “that” and see if it still makes sense. If it makes sense without “that,” omit it.
• Inappropriate use of commas. A comma should be used to separate two independent clauses joined by a conjunction, e.g., “The nurse assessed the situation early in the morning, but she failed to check again after lunch.”
• Improper tense. Incorrect: “The housekeeping staff done it.” Correct: “The housekeeping staff did it.” Incorrect: “The student seen the mistake.” Correct: “The student saw the mistake.”
• Incorrect use of possessives. Example: “The two RN’s went on break.” This is plural not possessive so it should be, “The two RNs went on break.” Example: “The 1800’s were a time of great change.” This is not a possessive and does not need an apostrophe: “The 1800s were a time of great change.”
• “Unparallel” lists. Both bulleted and numbered lists should be parallel in format. This means that the first word should be of the same form such as all nouns, gerunds, or verbs. (Also keep in mind that numbered lists are for things done in sequence, whereas bulleted lists for simply for a collection of individual items.) For example:

 

1. Scrubs floors
2. Dusts desks
3. Empties waste cans
4. Collects forgotten items

 

or

• Washing windows
• Drying dishes
• Scrubbing floors
• Dusting bric-a-brac

 

• Misuse of “myself,” “me,” and “I.” Example: “There was a disagreement between Roger and myself.” This should be, “There was a disagreement between Roger and me.” Example: “Roger and me went to the store.” This should be, “Roger and I went to the store.”  You can check by leaving “Roger” out of the sentence, i.e., “I went to the store” makes sense whereas “Me went to the store” does not make sense.
• Misplaced punctuation. Commas and periods should be placed inside quotation marks (see examples throughout this document).
• Mismatched singular and plural forms of words. For example, “Each student read aloud their own paper.” “Each” is singular and must be paired with a singular pronoun: “Each student read aloud his/her own paper.”
• Omitting the final comma in a series. Incorrect: The girls played hopscotch, jumped rope and threw the ball. Correct: The girls played hopscotch, jumped rope, and threw the ball.
• The wrong word. “Loose” vs. “lose”: The rug is loose; you lose a tooth. “They’re,” “there,” and “their.” “They’re over there doing their own thing.” “Different than” is always incorrect. “Different from” compares things: “Your car is different from mine.”
• Misuse of “that” and “which.” “That” is used with essential clauses and is not set off with a comma; “which” is used with non-essential clauses and is always set off with a comma. For example: “The book that I gave you last is week is great.” “The book, which I gave you last week, is very funny.” Writers often use “which” because it sounds more “professional.” An exception: Alternate that and which in a sentence when both is used. For example: “A course which is required is often perceived as boring, but one that is necessary.”

Tips

 

• Always spell check! It’s free and easy. You can set your computer to do it automatically. Ask IT if you need advice regarding setting spell check up on your home computer.
• Always Proofread! Spell check alone is never enough, as this sentence demonstrates: “The plane truth is that their always write.” Always read back through what you wrote slowly so you can catch mistakes. Computers aren’t good at catching words that sound alike; for a good list, visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/660/01/ .
• Repeated words are difficult to spot. Repeated words, especially when they occur at the end of one line and then at the beginning of the next, are difficult to spot. Reading word-by-word beginning at the end of the sentence helps to catch these errors.
• Read aloud. Our eyes skim over errors when we know our topic well and are reading silently. Reading aloud often causes our ears to hear things that aren’t quite right.
• Put it down and come back later. Too many hours of writing, editing, and reading often make us blind, deaf, and dumb. Set your work aside and come back to it when you’re fresh.

 

Health Policy Paper Guide/ Check Sheet:

 

APA Format required for paper.   Double space please.  Include running head, title page and reference page. Use subtitles within the paper to clearly identify each section to help keep you on tract. Paper should not exceed 7 pages excluding title, reference pages and page with abstract.

You are encouraged to find and read the proposed policy so you have a better understanding of the content.   DO NOT use the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.  You may use sections of the act.

 

Title page

   Abstract: 

Be sure and include in the abstract the name of the policy you are addressing and briefly what the paper will discuss.   Abstracts should be brief generally 150 words or less.

 

Context:

From the literature, discuss the issues the policy is designed to address.   You must have a minimum of 4 sources to develop the context.   Be sure and include both the pros and cons of the issue.   For example, if you are discussing safe staffing, there is literature which supports this effort and other literature which shows that additional staffing really does not impact patient outcomes.  You would want to include both sides in your discussion.

 

In this section you should clearly and thoroughly discusses the background of the issue, including significance of the problem. Discuss previous actions or solutions, stakeholders and how issue should be addressed. The paper should show a clear central idea and follows a logical flow.

 

Policy Goals and Options and Evaluation of Options.   NOTE:  On the rubric these are listed as separate sections but you may combine them if so desired.

 

Identify the policy and discuss the objectives of policy, detailed options and alternatives of the policy.  You must use the sources from the literature to effectively support the paper.

 

You must identify a minimum of two options or alternatives to the policy and thoroughly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of the options/ alternatives identified.    Remember doing nothing or maintaining the status quo is an option.   You should also consider the financial impact of the options/ alternatives identified.    For example, one of the reasons safe staffing has never been passed on the national level is the fiscal burden it might create.  So what are the options/ alternatives to ensure safe patient care?

 

Conclusion:   

Summarize your discussion and draw conclusions regarding recommendations and limitations of the policy.

 

 

Reference Page:   Use APA Format

 

 

Policy Issue Paper 

  

Choose an issue that you are interested in and write a paper that would indicate a need for a policy.  Your issue may be one that has a local, state, national or international impact. The following web site is a good source for identifying issues:  http://kaiseredu.org/ or the ANA website especially rnaction.org     See the legislative issues sponsored by the ANA. These are usually great policy issues to adapt for local or state adoption.  Please post your paper using a word document in the Drop Box for rough drafts and under assignments for your final paper

 

Be sure to include the following:

 

1. Context – Identify the problem and discuss the background of the issue.  Discuss the significance of the problem.  What efforts have been taken in the past to solve the problem?  Who are the stakeholders and how should this issue be addressed?

 

1. Policy Goals and Options – What are the objectives of the policy?  What are the options and alternatives of the policy?

 

1. Evaluation of Policy Options and Alternatives – Evaluate the criteria.  Analyze and compare the policy’s alternatives.

 

1. Conclusion/Recommendations/Solutions – Summarize your finding and make conclusions.  Include limitations of the plan and potential consequences.

 

The policy paper should be 5 – 7 pages in length (not including face sheet and references).

The paper must follow APA format, this includes an abstract. I have included a Power-Point under the Resources tab of Oncourse as well as a sample paper. For those of you who have access to the recommended Dunn text, it has a chapter on writing a policy issue paper.

 

Please see grading rubric under resources 

Abstract (5 points)

Background (20 points)

Policy Goals (20points)

Policy Options and Evaluation of those Options (20 Points)

Recommendations (15 Points)

References (10 Points)

APA format (10 points)

 

Answer all questions completely. You should answer the questions in essay form, providing an ARGUMENT for why your “strong” poll should be considered strong, and why your “weak” poll should be considered weak. Your essay should be a minimum of 1000 words, not including your “Works Cited” section at the end of your essay.

Find two public opinion polls from 2012 or 2013, one of which offers weak support for its conclusion, the other of which offers strong support for its conclusion. Answer the following questions about each of the polls:

1. What is the property in question (what question is asked of the sample population)?
2. What is the sample size, and is the sample size large enough to avoid hastiness?
3. From where was the sample population taken (what types of people are included in the sample)?
4. What was the methodology in selecting the sample? Was it randomly selected? If so, explain the precise method of random selection (Do not simply say “telephone survey.” Do not simply say “randomly selected telephone survey. Be specific! Do not say “the survey did not say how the sample was selected.” Choose a survey from a polling organization that does reveal the method of selecting the sample, or do research on the survey or polling organization by going to their web site.  You must have a precise and detailed answer to this question! See the sample assignment submission PDF for an example of how this question can be answered relatively successfully.) Or was the sample selected in some other way, i.e. self-selection?
5. Were there any opportunities for bias (as defined in chapter 10) to creep into the sample? Explain.
6. What is the target population?
7. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being very weak, 10 being very strong), what numerical value would you assign to the poll? Briefly explain your answer.
8. Provide a Works Cited area at the bottom of your essay, in MLA format, to indicate where you got the surveys, and any other information pertaining to the surveys. You must also cite your sources in the text of your essay, in MLA format.

Office of the President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Cabinet Member:
Prior to the next cabinet meeting you must submit a report on your highest priority program. The purpose of this report is to inform me of your priority program for the upcoming fiscal year. Please give me details on why your highest ranking program should be included in this year’s budget proposal. In your report, include necessary documentation including any supporting graphics and testimonials that you believe necessary to make your case for support of this program.
I look forward to seeing your report and I await your recommendations on how the federal government can continue its most critical programs in these times of economic restraint.
Sincerely yours,

The President of the United States

ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW
Washington, D.C. is an extremely competitive, political town and you must work hard to keep your agency an important part of government. It’s the beginning of the legislative calendar and you must compete with other agencies and departments for a part of the budget and a high profile emphasis from the president.
Choose which federal executive department you would like to represent (see list below). Identify a current or new program that you will present to the president as a priority for your department. Write a report to the president describing the problem and the program that will alleviate the problem. You may prepare charts, tables and graphs to explain your plans to the President.
DETAILS
1. Submit a written report addressed to the president. A quality report will probably be between 750-1000 words. However, the president cares more about clarity and detail than length – charts and other visual aids may be more valuable than word count.
2. You should use at least 5 quality sources to research and clarify your report. When appropriate, the sources should be cited within the report using MLA or APA style. A complete bibliography should be attached to the report. A bibliography includes all sources from which you gathered information.
3. The president wants to focus on your ideas, not your errors. Be sure to check for clarity and appropriate word usage; complete sentences; correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
4. As the head of your department you should demonstrate substantial understanding about your department and your priority program.
5. In order to get a favorable response from the president, be sure to follow all guidelines as outlined in the attached rubric.
6. In the report describe the top priority program for your department:
How does this program fit into the official mission of your department?
Why is your department best suited to run this program?
Is this a new program or an existing program?
What problem does the program solve? How significant is the problem? Give evidence, not anecdote.
What is the estimated fiscal impact of the program and how does it fit into your department’s budget?
Why should the program be important to the president?
RESOURCES
The Federal Executive Departments can be individually accessed through the following homepages:
The President’s Cabinet: HYPERLINK “http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html”http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html
Department of Agriculture: HYPERLINK “http://www.usda.gov/”http://www.usda.gov/
Department of Commerce: HYPERLINK “http://www.doc.gov/”http://www.doc.gov/
Department of Defense: HYPERLINK “http://www.defenselink.mil/”http://www.defenselink.mil/
Department of Education: HYPERLINK “http://www.ed.gov/”http://www.ed.gov/
Department of Energy: HYPERLINK “http://www.energy.gov/”http://www.energy.gov/
Department of Health and Human Services: HYPERLINK “http://www.hhs.gov/”http://www.hhs.gov/
Department of Housing and Urban Development: HYPERLINK “http://www.hud.gov/”http://www.hud.gov/
Department of the Interior: HYPERLINK “http://www.doi.gov/”http://www.doi.gov/
Department of Justice: HYPERLINK “http://www.usdoj.gov/”http://www.usdoj.gov
Department of State: HYPERLINK “http://www.state.gov/”http://www.state.gov/
Department of Transportation: HYPERLINK “http://www.dot.gov/”http://www.dot.gov/
Department of the Treasury: HYPERLINK “http://www.ustreas.gov/”http://www.ustreas.gov/
Department of Veterans Affairs: HYPERLINK “http://www.va.gov/”http://www.va.gov/
Department of Homeland Security: HYPERLINK “http://www.dhs.gov/”http://www.dhs.gov/

This assignment was based on a Cabinet Meeting Simulation written by Bob O’Conner and available on the SCORE website.

Mike Davis worked for one of the big outdoor sporting goods stores for more than seven years. Although he never completed his degree, Mike took some management courses at the local community college. The knowledge he gained from his coursework along with his own tenacity enabled him to rise into entry-level management. Although Mike enjoyed his job, he couldn’t help wondering if there was more to life. Mike always wanted to open his own business because he wanted to be his own boss and thought he might be able to earn a decent living.

Recently, retired from a career with the school system as a PE teacher and sports coach, Mike’s Aunt Daisy was looking to fulfill her dream of having an outdoor adventure business. She had inherited some property years back but had not done anything with the land to this point. When Aunt Daisy learned that Mike was thinking along the same lines, she determined it was time to start a business. The two decided to go into business together and brought in Mike’s younger brother, Ethan, who was working part-time as an athletic trainer. The trio combined their savings and started hashing out a plan to use the five acres of land that Aunt Daisy had inherited.

The concept was simple…to open a business where teenagers, young adults, and work teams from local businesses could enjoy hours of outdoor fun and entertainment. There was limited sports and entertainment for the target audience so the family decided to open a themed outdoor paint ball park, which they called Outdoor Adventure Paintball Park. Outdoor Adventure offers customers a choice of five battlefields, each offering a different level of play.

Each field provides a unique experience for hours of enjoyment. There is the civil war field with a simulated headquarters and trenches; an old castle, which is made of multiple levels and a tower; the woods, which offers a true woodsy battle with placement of several man-made buildings for additional cover; the village, which is a large field with a wooded section running down one side, a two story building and bunkers in the middle, with a creek running down the other side; and the hill, which contains a wooded section and a number of bunkers on a steep incline. A small store is strategically placed in a location central to the fields to eliminate the need for guests to leave the playing area.

The costs to customers vary, with rental packages starting at $25 per person. Customers may also purchase a la carte based on their individual needs. Additionally, season passes are available for a cost of $150 and birthday party packages are available for $300. The minimum age to participate in a paint ball event is 10 years.

In addition to the five battle fields, there are six air ball fields that are formatted for 3, 5 and 7-man tournament play. Air ball fields offer a variety of layouts that are constantly changed to keep up with the latest craze in tournament play. Many of the fields have dedicated fill stations to eliminate the need for players to leave the field to reload.

The facility also includes a shooting gallery designed to allow individuals to sharpen their shooting skills. The gallery contains high velocity paint guns and a variety of still and moving targets. Players may practice aiming, have shootouts or just blast away at targets for sheer enjoyment.

Mike manages the business and spends most of his time in his office with the door closed, Ethan trains new employees and supervises paint ball events, and Aunt Daisy has oversight of the shooting gallery. The business started with three employees but has grown quickly to a staff of 20.

The venture seemed like a good idea. The family’s passion for sports and working with youth appeared to be paying off. There are loyal repeat customers who purchase expensive equipment and supplies from Ethan. These customers also enjoy attending extra training and information sessions. The tournaments have become popular and the local news has been covering the events. Moreover, the business has a reputation for being a safe family friendly environment.

However, recently, Outdoor Adventure has been experiencing growing pains. Scheduling is becoming more challenging as the activities on the field increase. Staff is pulled from one area of the park to provide coverage in another. Employees are starting to complain that they do not understand their job duties outside of the paint ball fields and feel they need additional training and procedures. Additionally, a major event was missed due to double-booking. A number of customers have expressed their displeasure with the service and, as a result, spending less time on the field. Local businesses are not responding to special discounts for employee events. There has been an increase in workplace mistakes but fortunately these have not resulted in serious accidents. Customers and employees are starting to question the leadership and often ask, “How long can a business like this one last?” or “Who’s running the show?”

Mike has noticed a dip in sales and is now starting to feel they are losing control of the business. While the two closest competitors are 30 – 45 miles away and do not offer nearly the same amenities, Mike understands that if they do not do something quickly, their customer base may decide travel to the competition. Moreover, his passion for owning a sports-oriented business is waning. He is concerned about the continued success of the business but the work no longer seems fun or interesting.

Aunt Daisy, on the other hand, is not interested in discussing the books and does not see any need to worry. She is not concerned about what Mike calls “a few random incidents” and sees the dip in sales as an indication that it would be a good idea to expand the offering. In fact, she has been presented with the possibility of forming a paint ball competing team. She feels this opportunity is too big to pass up and wants to convince the others that it’s a good time to pursue.

In order to develop effective strategies, it is critical to understand the marketplace environment. In this assignment, you will explore the relationship between marketplace positioning based on environmental factors.

Throughout this course, you will work on a strategy audit for a selected organization. In Module 1, you selected an organization for your course project activities and completed a market position analysis for your organization.

In this module, you will conduct a comprehensive external environmental scan of your business unit, including a five forces analysis, to identify the relevant trends that pose opportunities or threats to your business. These will serve as inputs for a final strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis that will be due in Module 4: Assignment 2.

There are many elements that can go into an environmental scan, and your analysis will depend on the nature of your business unit, product portfolio, target market, and other factors related to the scope of your business.

Your environmental scan should include some or all of the following elements:

• Economic factors and trends
• Political factors and trends
• Regulatory and legal factors and trends
• Societal factors and trends
• Technological factors and trends
• Geographic factors and trends
• Porter’s five forces that consists of the following aspects:
  • Threat of new competition
  • Threat of substitute products or services
  • Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
  • Bargaining power of suppliers
  • Intensity of competitive/industry rivalry

Although your analysis will be tailored to your specific business, be sure to cover the following:

• A thorough five forces analysis of your industry
• The key factors and trends in any other areas affecting your industry
• A preliminary classification of the external factors and trends as either opportunities or threats which will be the inputs for the final SWOT analysis

Write a 3-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of

How does Aristotle’s list of virtues and vices differ from our modern conceptions of vice and virtue?

How might we determine  which is  better: Aristotle’s system or our own?

FACTS:  The Organization for Animal Rights (“OAR”) is a newly formed organization whose mission is to bring about positive changes in the use and treatment of research animals, by working in various “policy venues”.  They are most active in the State of Maryland, which is where the organization is located.

PART 1 (8 points of the 22 available for the whole assignment)

1. (2 points of the 8) As a preliminary matter, OAR wants to determine if there are any current legal protections for research animals. What sources of law would they research? For each one you name explain why you think there might be protections in this source of law. NOTE: Do not do actual research to find specific law.

2. (3 points)  Suppose they find no legal protections and decide that they will try to get a law passed. What institutions would they need to interact with and what kind of interactions will they have?

3. (3 points) Suppose they find that there is federal law about research animals. It is worded rather broadly. How is this law implemented? What kind of interactions could the group have with any institutions implementing this law?

PART 2 (10 points of the 22 available for the whole assignment)

1. (2 points of the 10)  Some members of the group want to stage a protest in front of one of the research labs. What kinds of law would affect whether they could stage this protest? Explain.

2. (4 points) Assume the protest does actually take place. During the protest one of the lab technicians parks his car near the lab and walks toward the entrance. A protestor stands in front of him blocking the way. The technician pushes the protester aside to get by him and enter the building but the protester falls and suffers a broken arm. The protest occurred in the State of Maryland.  The protestor wants to bring a civil lawsuit against the technician. Since he does not make much money at his part time jobs, he wants to handle the matter himself without the assistance of an attorney. A law school friend told him that he could sue under the tort of battery which is the unconsented to contact which causes injury. He wants to be reimbursed for his medical costs (he has no insurance) and his friend also told him about damages for pain and suffering. He wants the technician to pay him $5000.00.  So:

a. What court will he be using within the State judicial system?

b. What must the injured protestor do to get the lawsuit started?

c. How will the technician learn that he is being sued and what must the technician do if he disagrees with what the protestor is claiming or if he claims it was an accident and the protestor put himself in the tech’s path.

d. If there is a jury trial in this civil matter, must their verdict be unanimous? How do they learn about the law on which they must base their verdict?

3. (4 points)   Now, assume that after the protestor falls, 3 other protestors jump on the technician and punch him around his head. When the other protestors drag them off, the technician is bleeding profusely and is taken by ambulance to the hospital. The police were not called. The technician believes they committed a crime and is more interested having those protestors punished.

a. What must the technician do to initiate the criminal process and how will the protestors learn about this?

b. What court proceedings will take place before a trial is held?

c. If there is to be a jury trial, how will the jury be selected? How many jurors will there be for the trial?

d. How do the jurors learn about what happened and what both sides are claiming?

PART 3 (2 points of the 22 available for the whole assignment)

The concern about animal cruelty is not limited to research animals. Cruel treatment of animals exists in many contexts, and animal rights groups have been active on many fronts within the legal system. Find one article that discusses a court case related to animal cruelty in any context except animals used for research.  So:

a.         Be sure to provide the title and author of the article and the direct URL link to the article.

b.         What was this case about and what did the court decide ?

c.         If you quote from the article be sure to use quotation marks.

sing the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELP) from Arizona or from your state, select a stage (grade level) for a group of students you define. Create a content objective and a language objective using the AZ College & Career Ready Standards and the ELA Standards for your group of ELLs at the Basic Proficiency Level for each of the following domains:

1. Listening and Speaking
2. Reading
3. Writing

Include a 500-750-word summary below the chart (within the same document) that contains rationales for each of the three domains that describes how the objectives you wrote address the characteristics of a basic ELL level and accounts for the theoretical language acquisition principles mentioned in your required reading.

In this summary, explain how content area teachers can write lesson plans in which all of the standards (ELP and content) support one another and actually provide scaffolding opportunities for students.

While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

Write a minimum of two or three pages of research based paper on Boeing’s strategy for new / emerging market. How does Boeing market its planes? How does it gain its market share in the new market? The conclusion of the assignment should include a synopsis of your recommendation (s) that could enhance Boeing’s marketability in that particular market.

Rank and Yank: Legitimate Performance
Improvement Tool or Ruthless and Unethical
Management?
Forced ranking is a performance appraisal system popularized by Jack Welch when he was CEO of General Electric. It is a system that has been given the derogatory label of “rank and yank” by its critics. The intent of the forced-ranking system is to improve the performance level of an operation by getting rid of the bottom 10 percent of performers and hiring replacements who will perform at a high level. a Ranking judgments can be made in a variety of ways. b For example, a forced distribution can pre-assign a set percentage of employees that must be placed into categories such as “most effective,” “average,” and “needs improvement.” Alternatively, a simple ranking of workers from best to worst can be used. Top performers may be rewarded and offered promotion or training. Low performers may be given a warning or terminated. Forced ranking has been employed by a number of companies, but some legal challenges have been made. For example,

Microsoft successfully defended several discrimination suits challenging its use of a forced-ranking system. Conoco used a forced-ranking system and reached an out-of-court settlement in a discrimination lawsuit. Ford Motor Company implemented a forced-ranking system in January 2000 and ended up paying an award of $10.5 million as a result of class action suits charging that the system had a disparate impact on some subgroups of employees. Ford has since shelved its forced-ranking system. c
Overall, however, there have been relatively few legal challenges to the forced-ranking system. It remains a controversial management practice. A potential downside of forced ranking is increased competitiveness among workers. d Under a forced-ranking system, workers can become less focused on common or collaborative tasks. Instead, workers might focus on their individual performance and of performance, but the effect decreased to a near-zero level within six years.

Address the following issues: a. Why does the system work? That is, why did the simulation find improved performance? b. The logic behind the forced-ranking approach and the simulation is that performance in a workplace is normally distributed. Do you think this is an accurate assumption? Why or why not? c. If performance in a workplace is not normally distributed, do you think a forced-ranking approach would still improve the average level of performance in the organization?

Explain. Share your judgments on these issues with the rest of the class

Critical Thinking Questions
1. Do you think forced ranking is a good performance management system?
Why or why not?

2. Part of the forced-ranking label reflects the intent to force distinctions among worker performance levels. In an absolute- rating system, everyone could be rated “above average.” Does this difference between the absolute- and relative-rating approaches mean that the absolute performance judgments are wrong? Explain.

3. As a manager, would you prefer to rely on an absolute performance rating system or a relative system, such as forced ranking? Why?

4. Can you devise an absolute-rating system that would guarantee differentiation among workers? Why or why not?