The Business of Government Paper 

The IBM Center for the Business of Government publishes reports that “focus on major

management issues facing all governments today.” Relying on the business of government

website http://www.businessofgovernment.org/reports you will develop a well-written paper that

critically examines one of the reports available on the site. Your choice of report is at our sole

discretion. In other words, choose one that interests you.

Your paper will meet the following requirements:

 Introduction: Present an overview of the main concepts, ideas, and principles discussed in

the report.

 Problem Statement: What’s the problem that the report is attempting to address? Who is

the target audience – Federal agencies? Public administrators? Society?

 Literature Review: What is the proposed solution and what do other authors say about it?

Identify two (2) unique literary sources that support or reject the propositions of the IBM

report and describe their relevance to the report.

 Analysis: Add your personal analysis and reflections on the impacts and implications

(positive or negative) of the core contributions of the IBM report to your thinking and

interest in government and public administration.

 Conclusion: Finally, write a short concluding statement that summarizes the main aspects

of your analysis and offer one (1) meaningful idea for future research within the same

topical area as the IBM report. You may not use a research proposition included in the

report by the authors. In other words, what do you think needs further study based on

your understanding of the topic? There must be something. After all, government is a

vast and complex arrangement of values, structures, ideologies, and so on, that

individually or aggregated together, warrant ongoing study.

Your paper will be a maximum of 4 – 5 pages in length, double-spaced, 12 point font with a

suitable cover page and reference page (which are in addition to the 4 – 5 pages). As one paper

requirement notes, it is expected that you will use a blend of research from your own

independent study and sources you identify. However, sources from the Internet will not be

considered “research” unless they represent something that is actually in print somewhere and/or 

clearly represent the research of a specific author associated with a credible agency or

organization.

It is expected that you will use APA 6th Edition guidelines for documenting your references on

the reference page as well as in-text citations. An APA primer will be provided on Blackboard,

but it’s always beneficial to have a copy of the complete book available for reference.

Your writing must be clear and the grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be nearly

flawless. Your research paper must provide clear and explicit evidence that you understand the

content of the IBM report. Example academic journals that may be useful for this paper are

Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory and Praxis, the Journal of Public

Administration Research and Theory, and the International Journal of Public Administration.

These are only a few representative examples of highly useful sources of literature.