[SOLVED] Supporting Conclusions with Your Ideas and Reasoning

Supporting Conclusions with Your Ideas and Reasoning
All HRMN courses require you to integrate the course material and case scenario facts
(if applicable) into all discussion posts and major project answers to demonstrate that
you have read, understand, and can apply the class material. This is done by
supporting the conclusions drawn in the answer or post with ideas and reasoning
substantiated by the class material. If the conclusions are not drawn by using the class
material or facts, then what has been provided is nothing more than your opinion and
therefore shows no evidence that the class material has been read and understood well
enough to be applied successfully.
In this class, you are expected to approach every graded assignment with the
understanding that all reasoning and conclusions present are to be validated with
course material, case study facts or outside research (if required).
Below are acceptable methods of supporting your ideas, reasoning and thus the
conclusions you have drawn. You may find that there are circumstances that require
you to use one or more of these methods simultaneously.
1. Literature
Most of the support for the conclusions will be provided by the classroom literature. This
literature is derived from expert opinion and research in the field. You must rely upon
the literature to add validity to your own perspective, claim, conclusion, choice, or
argument. The eBook(s) and other resources in the class have been selected because
of the credibility of the information and expert authors presented. The expectation is
that you will use this information to support the ideas and reasoning that led to
conclusions drawn in your posts and answers. The greater the degree of support for
the ideas and reasoning that provides the underpinning of the conclusion, the greater
correlation to the degree of critical thinking demonstrated (and the higher the grade).
Example:
You are asked to determine the best organizational structure for Charlie’s Crab House
by the Sea. In answering, you will identify the structure in one sentence: The best
structure for Charlie’s Crab House is a functional organizational structure. Then, in a
separate sentence support why the best structure is a functional one:
The functional organizational is the best structure because the structure
improves efficiencies through job specialization, presents a clear chain of
command, allows for better control for employee promotion, cultivates a learning
organization and makes training easier (Accounting Tools, 2017, para. 7).
In this answer, you will have drawn a conclusion as to the best structure, defined the
structure, and given a reason for the conclusion, all of which you were asked to do to
answer the question. Notice that the use of in-text citation shows how the conclusion
was drawn by using the class material to support its validity. To provide support, you
have to give an in-text citation with an associated reference to support the idea of why a
functional structure is best for this situation. Finally, to provide an outstanding
response, defining and describing other organizational structures and why they would
not be appropriate, again supported by the class material and case study facts provides
a stronger more in-depth answer. Notice the response explains the “why and how” of
an answer rather than merely making a statement. This type of answer would return an
A grade versus a C- for providing an answer that omits the support of the course
material.
Reference:
Accounting Tools (2017, May 13). Functional Organizational Structure. Retrieved from
https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/2017/5/13/functional-organizational-structure
2. Use of Statistics
Presenting data is one way to provide convincing support for conclusions when used
with an explanation of why or how the numbers are significant. However, be careful that
the statistics presented are presented in the correct context, otherwise the information is
not credible. When using any type of statistics, you need to cite and reference the
source document.
Example:
If you are asked if small businesses contribute significantly to employment in the United
States, a good start to providing an answer could be:
Small businesses contribute significantly to the employment of US workers.
Small businesses are 28.8 million strong and employ 56.8 million workers
(Schwinn, 2016, p. 1).
Reference:
Schwinn, R. (2016, March-April). 2016 state small business profiles released with fresh
design. The Small Business Advocate, 35(3), 1-8. Retrieved from
https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-4061763191.html
3. Educated Examples
Examples can bring your writing alive, capture your audience’s attention and support
the conclusions drawn!
Example:
If you are asked how, as a manager, you can help an employee accomplish his or her
career goals, then you can use an example combined with the course material to draw a
conclusion from the example:
A manager can use several tactics to help an employee reach his or her career
goals. First, it is critical for a manager to engage an employee in a conversation
to gain an understanding of an employee’s goals (Lighthouse, 2017, para. 7).
For example, since starting work at Gee-Whiz, Inc. two years ago, my immediate
supervisor, Jack meets with me every three months to discuss my career goals.
When a manager understands a worker’s goals, then it is possible to tap into
what motivates the worker (para. 2). According to Lighthouse (2017) a manager
needs to develop a rapport with the people they supervise, let a worker know that
his or her success matters, and share his or her own goals to get the worker to
share theirs (Lighthouse, 2017, para. 8). For example, my manager takes a
sincere interest in my growth at Gee-Whiz and provides specific feedback on
different tasks that I perform. For instance, I led a team on a project that involved
five different workers who collaborated to review and recommend changes to
current operating procedures for the department…….
Reference:
Lighthouse (2017). How to help your team achieve their goals. Retrieved from
https://getlighthouse.com/blog/how-team-achieve-goals/
NOTE: When using in-text citations, your name or reference to a case scenario cannot
be part of the in-text citation since you nor the case scenario is referenced in the article.