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APA-Style Formatting Guidelines for a Written Essay

When you format a paper in APA style, there are some basic formatting rules. Each page should have 1-inch margins all around and double-spaced lines. APA allows for a number of different fonts, but we recommend you use 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Title Page

Your APA-style title page will include: • A page number • The title of your paper • Your Name • Your institution (university) • The course title • The instructor's name • The assignment date

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Title of Paper

John Q. Student

University Name

Course

Instructor

Assignment Date Top, bottom, and side

margins throughout the paper should be 1 inch

You should also include the course title, assignment date, and instructor's name

APA guidelines include the title of the paper, the author’s name, and institutional affiliation.

• Center the text in the upper half of the page.

• Use 12-point Times New Roman font

• •

Double space Do not use bold, underline, or italics

• Include your middle initial

Page numbers for the paper begin in the header on the title page and appear in the upper- right corner

Indented

The Body of Your Paper

There are several things to remember when you are formatting the main body of your paper:

• 1-inch margins all around • 12-point Times New Roman font in double-spaced lines • The page number • Your full title centered on the first line in title case • Indent the first line of each paragraph • Include in-text citations for quoted, paraphrased, or

summarized material from others

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Full Title of Essay

Start your first paragraph here. This is the introduction paragraph. Here you want

to introduce your topic and grab the reader’s attention. Your introduction paragraph

should be 4–6 sentences long and will include your thesis statement. Remember, the

thesis statement states the main focus or main idea of the entire essay and is normally the

last sentence in the introduction; however, more importantly, it should be obvious what

your thesis statement is.

Begin the second paragraph here. This is your first body paragraph. Paragraphs

should be between 5–12 sentences. Your body paragraphs should begin with the

paragraph’s topic, which is the topic sentence. This topic sentence explains the main

focus of this paragraph, and should clearly relate to your thesis statement. Next, you will

include supporting details. If you are using outside sources (research) to lend credibility

to your details, this is where you should include them; most importantly, this is also

where you use in-text citations to cite other people’s ideas from your sources (Author,

date). Finally, the last sentence of a body paragraph concludes the paragraph and refers

back to the paragraph’s main focus.

Page numbering that began on your title page

Full title centered and in title case First line indented

The References Page

Like the other pages in your paper, the References page will include basic APA-style page formatting. Guidelines specific to the References page include:

• The word “References” should be centered on the first line • Alphabetize the entire list using the authors' last names • If you are using multiple works by the same author, list the entries in chronological order, beginning with the

earliest work • Each source you cite in a paper must correspond to a related reference on your References page • Each reference on your References page must be cited somewhere in your paper • References that stretch to two lines require a hanging indent

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References

Berrett, D. (2014). Dissecting the classroom. The Chronicle of Higher

Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Dissecting-the-

Classroom/144647/

Doe, J. (2014). Citing sources: Finding a way to cut through the confusion. The

Journal of Exceptional Instruction, 8(4), 78.

Heath, J. (2007). An adversarial ethic for business: Or when Sun-Tzu met the

stakeholder. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(4), 359–374. https://

doi.org/10.1007/ s10551-006-9175-5

Top, bottom, and side margins throughout the paper should be 1 inch

Page numbering that began on your title page

“References” should be centered on the first line

Sources appear in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name

Hanging indent for references exceeding one line

Group or Team

Although some people use group and team synonymously, there is a substantive distinction in what

constitutes a team and a group:

• A group is a collection of two or more individuals who maintain stable patterns of relationships,

share common interests, and perceive themselves as being part of a group.

• A team is a group of people who have interdependent skills, have a common purpose and

goals, and hold themselves mutually accountable for achieving the goals.

Creating a Team

The primary purpose of a team is to accomplish a given task within the construct of an organization.

Sometimes these teams are short-term and sometimes these teams are indefinite in terms of how long

they exist. Unfortunately, although they have practical knowledge from experience, many managers

lack the theoretical knowledge of team design, structure, and motivation. Managers frequently work

within a predetermined framework, which is often consistent with organizational expectations. In other

words, if a team is used to getting orders from management, they will accept projects given to them

without question. As a result, team members end up with significant challenges in fitting a new project

into a busy schedule. Within this context, the existing team mentality of conformity leaves little room

for team success.

To go beyond conventional thought, one of the primary foundations of a solid team is the alignment of

an individual's passions to team roles and goals. Rather than blindly accepting given projects from

management, teams can also seek alignment of passions with the given project. This provides

additional fuel for project success. Unfortunately, many teams only look at the functional aspect of team

members' skills and capacities. This leaves an important human dimension out of the picture—an

emotive element. One of the most powerful aspects of the human being is passion. When team

members are passionate about a project, they are more likely to work harder and longer.

For a moment, consider the "normal" amount of work you complete each day. Now, think about the last

time you went on a vacation. How much more work did you get done a day or two before departing?

For a few people, the distraction of the passion for the coming vacation minimizes performance. For

others, the passion for the coming vacation becomes an engine exponentially increasing performance.

It is quite possible you completed two to four times more work than usual so you did not have to worry

about work while you were on vacation. Imagine team performance if all team members were able to

focus their passion! How much more work could be done!

The alignment of an individual's passion is a crucial aspect to performance. When team design considers

members' passions, the potential is tremendous. The challenge is to move away from considering team

members as machines with skills and experiences to letting team members learn and grow intrinsically.

Though, the team itself can function as a machine, the individuality and personality of each member

contributes to that successful machine.

Team members need to be motivated to enhance their performance. There are two types of motivation,

intrinsic and extrinsic. Next, let's learn about intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and their role in

enhancing team performance.

Performance and Productivity

When individuals have an internal desire to perform a particular task, they experience intrinsic motivation. People perform a certain activity because it gives them pleasure, develops a particular skill, or it is morally the right thing to do. When external factors motivate individuals to perform a particular task, they experience extrinsic motivation. These factors include things like money or good grades. According to Maslow, there are five levels of needs. The lower-level needs have to be satisfied before an individual strives to meet the higher-level needs. • Physiological Needs: These are basic human needs such as need for food, water, and shelter. • Safety Needs: These needs refer to the need to feel safe and secure from the threat of physical and emotional harm. • Belongingness Needs: These needs refer to the desire to belong to a group, to feel loved, and to be appreciated by others. • Esteem Needs: These needs refer to the need to feel important. These needs include such things as achievement, reputation, and status. • Self-Actualization Needs: These needs refer to the quest of an individual to reach full potential as an individual. Maslow's hierarchy of needs focuses on intrinsic motivations. While his theory is widely taught, human nature does not have to be linear. Individuals can move and/or jump from one need to another depending on their mental state and current life situation. The theory also presents a few challenges from a perspective of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Some of the hierarchical levels are extrinsic motivations such as the esteem and belonging needs. Others are intrinsic such as self-actualization. In looking at your team, you as a leader will have to be able to gauge which level of motivation will fit the members of your team. Based on that level of motivation, team leaders can use it to generate key motivators to optimize team performance. If an individual has belonging needs, key motivators such as being part of a special focus group or recognition on a regular basis would influence behavior. If an individual has esteem needs, leaders can use promotions and bonuses to enhance specific behaviors. All of these are extrinsic motivators. If an individual is at the self-actualization stage, extrinsic motivators will have limited impact.

Team Motivation

Organizations often use extrinsic motivations to motivate their employees. Items like money and power often appear as the top organizational tools to enhance performance. When using extrinsic motivation, managers start by assuming people are not capable of motivating themselves. Managers do not take the time to find out what motivates their team members. As a result, extrinsic motivation can be seen as a form of manipulation. Furthermore, extrinsic motivation creates a co-dependence within the team. Every time a challenge appears, employees require additional extrinsic motivations to accomplish what they should already be doing. This is a very expensive practice for organizations. Studies have also found extrinsic motivation tends to minimize creativity. Even when there is intrinsic motivation to accomplish a task, extrinsic motivation can reduce the importance of self-achievement (Brehm, Kassin, and Fein, 2005). In order for a team to perform optimally, there should be a balance between the team's intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. In the long run, intrinsic motivations create self- driven leaders who need minimal supervision. It also treats individuals as empowered individuals who are capable of self-instructions, self-monitoring, and self-evaluating. Combined with self-discrepancy in the mismatch between the ideal-self and the actual-self (intrinsic desires), people are motivated to maximize positive outcomes that align with the ideal-self and perceptions of others (Orellana-Damacela, Tindale & Suárez-Balcázar, 2000). With tighter budgets and high demand for innovation, intrinsic motivation is a powerful tool for organizations. References Brehm, S. S., Kassin, S., & Fein, S. (2005). Social psychology (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Orellana-Damacela, L. E., Tindale, R. S., & Suárez-Balcázar, Y. (2000). Decisional and behavioral procrastination: How they relate to self-discrepancies. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 225–238.