1. APPENDIX A
Research Paper Guidelines
MBA--Managerial Accounting
Southeastern University
Combined Research Paper and Case Study
The next section presents a balanced scorecard case study. The
assignment is to prepare an analysis of the case, which includes
a research component. Use the following headings within the
body of your paper as a basis for presenting your material:
1. Balanced Scorecard Theory (BST). Identify and explain what
BST entails and discuss its advantages and disadvantages. This
discussion should include references to a minimum of five
published sources. One of these should be Kaplan and Norton,
who first advanced this concept as a management tool in 1992.
Only one reference can be from a web site. All others must be
from published practitioner magazines or academic journals.
You may reference the text book, but it does not count as one of
the five reference sources. Remember: a research effort is only
as good as the quality of the reference sources. Poor quality
references are indicative of an uninspired research effort.
1. Balanced Scorecard Case Study. Analyze the following case
study (taken from the Horngren et al. text) for a Law Firm.
Support your answer by references to material in the case and to
the material you presented in the Balanced Scorecard Theory
section of this paper. Include a discussion of balanced
scorecard management techniques that are being used and how
effective the law firm is employing this concept.
Young, Martinez, and Cheung (YMC) is a law firm in Chicago.
The firm has had a very loose and relaxed management style

2. that has served it well in the past. However, more aggressive
law firms have been winning new clients faster than YMC has.
Thus, the managing partner, Jerry Martinez, recently attended
and ABA seminar on the performance measurement in law
firms, where he learned about the balanced scorecard. He
thought it might be a good tool for YMC, one that would allow
the firm to keep its culture yet still more aggressively seek new
clients.
Martinez identified the following strategic objectives that fit
with the firm’s core values and provide a framework for
assessing progress toward the firm’s goals.
Financial: To steadily increase the firm’s revenues and profits.
Customer: (1) To understand the firm’s customers and (2) to
value customer service over self-interest.
Internal Business Process: (1) Encourage knowledge sharing
among the legal staff, (2) Communicate with each other openly,
honestly, and often, and (3) Empowere staff to make decisions
that benefit their clients.
Organizational Learning: (1) To maintain an open and
collaborative environment that attracts and retains the best legal
staff, and (2) to seek staff diversity.
For this case study, identify at least one measure (it should be
very specific) for each of the objectives set forth above. Then,
explain how YMC can use these measures to evaluate staff
performance. Finally, present the pros and cons of using the
balanced scorecard measures as an aspect of the determination
of compensation.
3. Application. If your firm uses the balanced scorecard as a
management tool,
discuss in detail how it is doing this. If not, as an alternative,
discuss how you might employ the balanced scorecard idea
to improve performance in your organization.

3. 1. References. Set forth all sources used to develop this case
study. All references must be from published sources. If you
use an Internet source, make sure it is of academic quality. For
example, the Academy of Management or the American
Accounting Association websites are examples of an acceptable
www citation. Conversely, websites like www.billhahn.com are
not of academic quality and, therefore, are unacceptable
reference sources. Only one citation can come from an Internet
website source.
Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable reference, nor is the textbook
or any other textbook. These sources are not considered
research quality in academia.
Databases such as AIB/Inform, ProQuest, Science Direct, and
Wilson Business resources
SHOULD be used to collect meaningful research materials from
academic and practitioner
journals.
This is a combination research paper and case study. Papers in
this area normally are 8-10 pages in length. Your paper should
not exceed 12 pages.
The paper MUST be presented APA style, which is SEU’s
specified style format.
RESEARCH PAPER/CASE STUDY GRADING CRITERA
Research papers are only as good as the reference sources used
to construct the paper’s narrative. The idea is that you do not
know much, if anything, about the topic, and you need to find
out what others say about it. Then you use their thinking in
order to set forth your narrative. Do not use the author’s words
and phrasing, but DO put the author’s ideas into your own
words.

4. When doing this, you must put a reference citation every time
you use the idea of another author. In most research papers,
every paragraph will have at least one reference citation. Not
doing so is plagiarism and could be graded as a zero. I found
this is several papers and encourage those who did so to review
the referencing material to insure that future papers are properly
cited.
For in-text references, the current APA guidance indicates the
following style for a journal article:
Adams, G.B. & White, J.D. (1994). Dissertation research in
public administration and cognate fields: An assessment of
methods and quality. Public Administration Review, 54(6), 565-
576.
Books and other sources are similar, but vary in certain aspects.
If you are to successfully write in the MBA program, you need
to spend time with the APA style manual, sixth edition.
Grading of the Research Paper/Case Study will be accomplished
using the grading rubric set forth in Appendix B. Following are
some general guidelines I employ in my evaluation of research
papers:
1. Referencing completeness and APA Style -1 to -10 points
2. No Kaplan & Norton reference source -5 points
3. Section headings set forth in assignment not used to develop
paper -5
4. Pros and Cons of BST, discussion not complete enough -5
to -10
5. Theory development, including what BST is, how it works,
and why it is an
important management tool not complete enough. -5 to -20
6. Case Analysis. Correct conclusion regarding the case and
completeness of discussion

5. -5 to -15
7. Application discussion completeness. -5 to -10
8. Other issues with the paper or its presentation. -1 to -50
This paper represents a significant portion of the course grade.
It is intended to demonstrate that you have mastered literature
research techniques and have developed an understanding of the
balanced scorecard concept and are able to relate balanced
scorecard ideas to a case study.
General appearance of the paper. It is expected that papers will
be neatly typed and free from spelling and grammar errors. A
further assumption is that papers will be done on a word
processor. Finally, all papers should be professionally
formatted. This paper must be at least 6 pages (1” margins,
Times New Roman 12 font, double spaced) and have a minimum
of five references.
Quality of References. Only primary reference sources should
be used. (NO TEXTBOOKS). The material should reflect a
review of important balanced scorecard literature. A research
paper is only as good as the quality of the references used to
develop it. Use of inferior references, or simply meeting the
minimum number of references, is an indicator of average to
below average research effort and quality.
No more than one of the references can be from Internet sites.
Care must be taken to select quality internet sites. Most are not
of research quality. However, sites, such as the SEC, IRS, FRB,
AICPA, FASB, and other governmental or professional
organizations, are of higher quality than most sites available on
the Internet.
Good use of the reference. In addition to identifying a good set
of resources and listing them in the reference, it is, of course,
important that these sources be used. Students sometimes
develop a good list of references but then develop almost the
entire paper using one or two sources. This is not acceptable.
Case Analysis. This is the key element of a research paper.
Without the other elements mentioned above, you will not have
a research paper which is scholarly in appearance and content.

6. What you must do to satisfy the analysis requirement is take the
materials you have gathered, review them in light of the
research you have conducted. Then present appropriate
evidence from your reference sources to support your analysis.
Because of the importance of clarity in the presentation of
information, points will be based on what you write as well as
how you write it. For the how component of your grade,
consideration will be given (among other things) to: spelling,
punctuation, grammar; as well as to the overall readability of
your paper.
As for what you write, consideration will be given to whether
you used your research to develop your case study analysis. In
this regard, you should use terms and concepts learned in the
research to inform your analysis. Specifically: First, you will
be evaluated on whether you have understood balanced
scorecard concepts and have expressed yourself appropriately
on the strengths and weaknesses of this management technique.
Second, your ability to critique the case study is assessed along
with your ability to present how your topic is applicable to the
workplace.
As a potential manager and leader, it is important that you be
able to express yourself in written form. That is why a research
paper is a significant part of your course grade and why it is in
your best interest to budget your time wisely in order to
complete it.
You must also carefully document what you have to say
following the rules for attribution. Reference all quotes,
paraphrasing, and ideas taken from others. While it is very easy
to purchase term papers online, it is also easy for your
instructor to trace them. Plagiarism will result in a zero for the
paper. Please read the Nova plagiarism policy prior to finalizing
and submitting your paper.
The following is a list of journals and periodicals with which

7. might be useful in the development of your paper.
Journals and Periodicals:
1. Academy of Management Journal
1. Academy of Management Review
1. Academy of Management Executive
1. Accounting Review
1. Administrative Science Quarterly
1. Advanced Management Journal
1. American Behavioral Scientist
1. American Journal of Sociology
1. Applied Economics
1. Business Horizons
1. Business and Society Review/Innovation
1. Business Week
1. California Management Review
1. Conference Board Review
1. Decision Sciences
1. Forbes
1. Fortune
1. Governing
1. Harvard Business Review
1. Human Factors
1. Human Relations
1. Industrial Labor Relations Review
1. Industrial Management
1. Journal of Accountancy
1. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
1. Journal of Applied Management & Entrepreneurship
1. Journal of Applied Psychology
1. Journal of Business
1. Journal of Management
1. Journal of Occupational Psychology
1. Journal of Vocational Behavior
1. Labor Law Journal
1. Long Range Planning
1. Journal of Strategic Planning

8. 1. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance
1. Organizational Dynamics
1. Personnel
1. Personnel Administrator
1. Personnel Journal
1. Personnel Management
1. Personnel Psychology
1. Psychological Bulletin
1. Psychology Today
1. Sloan Management Review
1. Social Research
1. Strategic Management
1. Small Group Behavior
1. Training and Development Journal
1. Wall Street Journal
Many of these publications are available in either hard copy or
electronic form using the search feature of ABI/INFORM
Global, Science Direct, or some similar periodical database.
There is a lot of garbage on the Internet. Therefore, care must
be used when determining if material found on the Internet is
useful to your research purpose. In general, governmental web
sites (e.g. SEC, IRS, Treasury Department) and professional
organization web sites (e.g. AICPA, FASB, Academy of
Management, American Marketing Association, etc.) contain
higher level data than other sites.
Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable reference. Textbooks for this
class or other classes you have taken are also unacceptable in
academic research.
Format of the Term Paper:
I. Introduction
II. Balanced Scorecard Concepts and Process
1. Concepts. This should fully describe the balanced scorecard.
1. Advantages/Disadvantages

9. III. Case Study Discussion: Use what you learned in Part II for
this purpose.
1. Performance Measures
1. Evaluation of Staff Performance
1. Compensation Tied to Performance
IV. Workplace Application: Related this concept to our place
of employment.
V. References
Your paper should have a cover sheet.
The first section should introduce your topic and briefly
identify key issues you are going to discuss. The literature
review should be a polished version of what you have learned
from your sources set forth in the reference. The case study
discussion section is where use what you have learned about the
balanced scorecard approach to analyze the case study under
consideration. Almost every paragraph in the literature review
should contain reference citations. Also, these sections should
have subheadings to separate distinct areas of discussion such
as the balanced scorecard process and strength and weaknesses.
The workplace application section provides you with an
opportunity to explore how the balanced scorecard idea is used
in your organization. If your organization does not use the
balanced scorecard, this section provides an opportunity to
investigate how it might be useful if you were to have an
opportunity to install it in your organization. Here is where you
place any opinions you wish to express about the workability of
the balanced scorecard approach in an applied setting.
Next will be your reference and lastly any appendices that are
necessary for a complete presentation.