Q This assignment is worth 25% of your final grade. It gives you an opportunity to investigate relevant trends in one of topics we are discussing. You must complete this assignment individually, without contacting other students, and you may not use a paper or any part of a paper from a previous class or from another person. The assignment has the opportunity to addresses Course Objectives 3, 4 and 5. Take a topic related to virtual and global teams and explore it further in 6-10 pages. Identify and discuss the current trends in your chosen topic area. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) use of virtual teams in global corporations, methods for managing conflict among virtual team members, team-based compensation programs, and team decision making processes. Support your opinions and statements with a minimum of seven references from sources published within the last ten years and be sure to integrate concepts, theories, and readings from our work over the semester. You can cite scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, newspaper articles, and YouTube videos about the topic, but not Wikipedia, consulting company websites, or other non-academic sources. UMUC librarians will help you with your research. You can access the library through the Resources section of our classroom (on the ribbon above the course title banner). You can also consult a graduate writing tutor for help with organizing your ideas, presenting them clearly, and complying with APA style requirements. You can access tutors through the Writing Tutoring module in our classroom. Use APA format for all citations, references, and quotations. This means your list of references should start on a separate page, and should be double spaced, with a hanging indent and no spaces between entries. Your paper should be 6-10 pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), double spaced with one inch margins and a font size of at least 11 points. Writing should be in 3rd person. Submit your assignment electronically via the Assignment folder. Name your file this way: YourLastNameFirstInitial_IndividualResearch (Example: StudentJ_IndividualResearch) Due date: Sunday, April 7, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Please see the next page for the grading criteria for this assignment.

Q Criteria A B C F Points Earned Knowledge of Relevant Theories and Concepts (40 pts) Student demonstrated exceptional knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; all statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature. 40 – 36 points Student demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; most statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature. 35 – 32 points Student demonstrated less than satisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; some statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature. 31 – 28 points Student demonstrated unsatisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; many statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature. 27 – 0 points Comments Quality of Research (30 pts) Student did an exceptional job of researching the topic and integrating course readings with the additional research. Student cited more than the minimum number of references; sources listed were all scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years. 30 – 27 points Student did a satisfactory job of researching the topic and integrating course readings with the additional research. Student cited the minimum number of references; sources listed were primarily scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years. 26 – 24 points Student did a less than satisfactory job of researching the topic and integrating course readings with the additional research. Student may not have cited the minimum number of references; some sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years. 23 – 21 points Student did an inadequate job of researching the topic and integrating course readings with the additional research. Student did not cite the minimum number of references; many of the sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years. 20 – 0 points Comments Presentation of Ideas and Mechanics (20 pts) Student presented ideas in a compelling manner with no distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met. 20 – 18 points Student presented ideas presented in a clear, coherent manner with few distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met. 17 – 16 points Student presented ideas in a somewhat organized manner with several distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met. 15 – 14 points Student presented ideas in a poorly organized or incoherent manner with many distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met. 13 – 0 points Comments APA formatting (10 pts) All citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained one or two minor errors. 10 – 9 points Most citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained a few minor errors. 8 points Some citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained major errors. 7 points Most citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained many errors. 6 – 0 points Comments Total Points Earned (100 points max)