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Overview

What You’ll Learn: In this Touchstone, you will apply the theories and concepts of human resources management to help a company improve employee engagement, boost productivity, and foster a thriving organizational culture.

Why It Matters: This Touchstone will give you a chance to master the principles learned in the course by using them in a real-world scenario. You will enhance your understanding of HR’s critical role in organizational success.

What Youll Hand In: An essay addressing the theories of human resource management and how they should be combined and utilized in a way that applies to Tech Titan, a fictional technology company. Length will be 4-6 pages (1500-2000 words) not counting the title page or reference page. Format should be .doc or .docx.

Keys to Success:

• Summarize key concepts in tutorials
• Apply concepts to the scenario
• Submit original work
• Use APA formatting conventions (title page, proper headings, font size, margins, and spacing)
• Include in-text citations and references as applicable

Helpful Links:

Instructions

Step 1: Read the Scenario
Read the Tech Titan case study and identify the key problems and challenges facing Tech Titan in human resource management.

Step 2: Review Tutorials
You should review all the course material and may use any tutorials to inform your decisions. Look for Make the Connection icons throughout the course for tips on content that will be most useful to this paper.

Step 3: Draft the Research Paper
Prepare a research paper to present to leadership at Tech Titan. The structure for the research paper will consist of four main sections plus a title and reference page. Be sure to cover all of these topics in your paper.

The structure for the research paper will consist of these elements:

• Introduction: Briefly summarize the case and state the thesis statement. Include the key aspects of the case, such as the company’s industry, its current situation (e.g., challenges, opportunities, competitive landscape), and any specific problems or issues that need to be addressed.

EXAMPLE

Thesis Statement:
“This paper argues that applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory to Tech Titan’s employee motivation strategies can significantly improve employee engagement and productivity by addressing the unmet needs of employees at different levels, leading to increased job satisfaction and reduced turnover.”

• Analysis: Identify Tech Titan’s key problems and challenges and analyze their root causes using relevant HR concepts you learned throughout this course. Read the scenario to understand the core issues you are addressing. Consider factors such as organizational culture, talent management, performance management, employee relations, and compensation and benefits. You should support your analysis with evidence from at least 2-3 Sophia tutorials. Additional resources are optional. If you choose to reference additional sources, be sure to use reliable sources of information such as reputable business publications.

hint

Human Resource Managers use American Psychological Association (APA) format for their research. An in-text citation in APA format for a Sophia course includes the corporate author and n.d., which stands for “no date,” and is used when citing sources that do not have a specified date of publication. Here is how to format an in-text APA citation for a Sophia tutorial:
(Sophia Learning, n.d.)

• Recommendations: Propose specific recommendations to address the identified problems. Make sure recommendations are consistent with one another. Your recommendations should be practical, feasible, and aligned with the company’s strategic goals.

• Conclusion: Summarize your key findings and recommendations. Return to your introduction section to revise and refine your thesis statement to ensure it is clear, concise, specific, arguable, and effectively communicates the main point of your research paper.

• Reference List: Include a list of references in APA format for any resource you use, including tutorials from this course.

hint

Here is how to format an APA reference entry for a Sophia tutorial:
Sophia Learning. (n.d.). Compensation Plans. [Types of Compensation Plans]. Human Resource Management.

Step 4: Review Requirements & Submit Your Touchstone
Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets the expectations as described in the assignment and rubric and meets APA guidelines. The link includes resources that can help with APA formatting, citations, and references.