One of the most exciting, interesting, and rewarding aspects of this course is the Course Project. This project, due in final form in Week 7, is worth 25% of your grade. Because of its importance in this course, and the fantastic learning experience that it offers students, additional information is presented below, including a description of the short paper (a brief overview of your project) due in Week 2.

Overview

The course project relates to the compensation and benefit strategy of an organization. Students will select an organization that is experiencing challenges with its compensation and/or benefit program. Some examples where challenges exist within the organization's compensation and benefit plan could include a high rate of employee turnover, an inability to recruit talented employees due to lack of proper compensation, an inability to fund an adequate benefit program, an incentive program where few employees reach their objectives, an inadequately funded retirement system, or a retirement plan that does not offer proper investment choices. Your paper will be graded according to how well you meet the tasks below.

1. Follow proper APA style/citations, grammar and punctuation, and so on. An APA tutorial is located on the HUB for assistance.
2. Identify an organization with compensation or benefits challenges. It could be an organization with which you are familiar personally or through the media.
3. Provide a detailed review of the compensation and/or benefit challenge (problem) at the organization. It is recommended that you concentrate on the principle compensation and/or benefit challenge(s) within a single organization, rather than a number of less important issues. Be careful to avoid selecting a topic that is too broad. At the same time, the challenge facing the organization should be broad enough to provide multiple strategies to help resolve the problem.
4. Discuss the compensation and/or benefits strategies other organizations have utilized related to your challenge, along with a review of their success and failure. As an example, if you are interested in an employee assistance program and why usage is less than expected, detail the strategies other organizations have followed to improve participation and see a return on their investment. Information regarding other organizations should be gathered through a research process and consist with academic-quality materials rather than word-of-mouth information.
5. Recommend the strategy you propose the organization should follow to address its compensation and/or benefit challenge. Explain why you have selected this strategy. Include research (theory) to substantiate your selection.
6. Discuss impediments to this strategy, including any contingency plans that should be considered.
7. Finally, detail how the strategy you propose would address the organization's challenge (as detailed in step 2 above) and its impact on both the organization and the employee. Include specific items that should be included in the action plan.

Deliverables

Due Week 2: Write a one-page (250300 words) overview about the company and detail the compensation and/or benefit issue(s) you selected for your Course Project. This refers to items 2 and 3 items listed under Course Project Overview above. This short paper is worth 50 points.

Due Week 7: The Course Project is due. The project should be 1,2001,800 words, excluding title and reference page. It should include items 17 as listed under Course Project Overview above. The Course Project is worth 200 points.

Grading Rubrics

Week 2 Short Paper

Documentation and Formatting	5	10%	A quality paper will include a title page, proper citations, and a reference page.
Organization and Cohesiveness	25	50%	A quality paper will include an introduction. The content will be properly subdivided into sections derived from the items 1 and 2 above. In a quality paper, the conclusion will summarize the major components of your paper.
Editing	7	15%	A quality paper will be free of any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and factually correct.
Content	13	25%	A quality paper will have significant scope of research to support statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. The paper meets the required 200300 words for content.
50	100%	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.

Week 7 Course Project

Documentation and Formatting	20	10%	A quality paper will include a title page, abstract, proper citations, and a reference page.
Organization and Cohesiveness	100	50%	A quality paper will include an introduction of the company and industry. The content will be properly subdivided into sections derived from the items 27 above. In a quality paper, the conclusion will summarize the reasoning you employed in your analysis and any outstanding conclusions you can reach about the companies analyzed.
Editing	30	15%	A quality paper will be free from any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and factually correct.
Content	50	25%	A quality paper will have significant scope and depth of research to support any statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. A quality paper will employ sound use of reasoning and logic to reinforce conclusions. The paper meets the required 1,2001,800 words for content.
200	100%	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.