This assignment gives you the chance to articulate a business problem and gap in practice, supported by literature—key steps in your capstone project as well as essential skills for practicing leadership in the business world. The business story you draw from for this activity allows you to analyze a problem and gap in a specific business context.

Employer Expectations

The following skills, which apply to this assignment, frequently appear in articles, job posts, and university reports related to what employers expect of a doctoral degree holder:

• Identify and analyze potential risks within a company’s corporate strategy, as well as how to propose precautionary steps to mitigate these risks.
• Identify causal factors that limit organizational performance.

Preparation

If you have not done so, practice choosing whether a problem aligns with its gap by completing the activity Practice Aligning Problems and Gaps.

Also, review the business stories for three businesses and choose one. You will use the same business for your second assignment.

Instructions

Select a business story. Within the story, choose from the linked and labeled pairs of problems and gaps in practice related to the assignment topics. A problem is something that is adversely affecting the business and must be addressed, and its related gap in practice is what is causing the problem.

Research current practitioner (business) literature to find two or more articles supporting the pairing of the gap in practice with the problem.

Write a 4–5 page analysis in which you:

• State the specific business problem and the gap in practice that is causing your identified problem.
• Explain why the gap in practice you identified properly aligns with the selected specific problem. Why is this the right gap instead of another?
  • If your research leads you to a different conclusion about the gap than the one paired with your problem in the business story, you may provide the rationale for a gap other than the one identified.
• Discuss how examples of current practitioner literature (at least two articles) provide evidence that your chosen gap in practice is the source of the problem. Then add these sources to your Capstone Literature Matrix [XLSX] Download Capstone Literature Matrix [XLSX], fully completing the matrix categories.
• Based on the topic of your problem and gap, identify a project of interest addressing a need (versus a want) that you might observe in your workplace.
• Describe why removing your personal biases in the project discovery process is important.

Submit your written work and literature matrix in the assignment area. Be sure to upload both documents before you submit your assignment.

Additional Requirements

As you complete your assignment, be sure your submission meets the following guidelines:

• Capstone Literature Matrix: Submit the literature matrix with your selected articles entered.
• Written communication: Use error-free doctoral-level writing, with original (nonplagiarized) content, logical phrasing, and accurate word choices.
• APA formatting: Format all references and citations according to the current APA style and formatting guidelines. Refer to the Advanced Doctoral LearnersLinks to an external site. section of the Writing Center as needed.
• Font and font size: Use an APA-compliant font, 12 points, throughout.
• Length: Submit 4–5 double-spaced pages for the analysis plus the literature matrix.
• File naming protocol: Follow the standard naming conventions for any files you upload. Refer to the Submissions RequirementsLinks to an external site. for details.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Create academically sound annotations into a matrix of literature to support business research of problems and practices occurring in the field of leadership.
  • Make annotations in a literature matrix that convey how the literature provides adequate evidence for the problem, gap, and project need.
• Competency 2: Critically integrate existing relevant literature to determine an important and meaningful gap in practice for leadership.
  • Explain how examples of current practitioner literature provide evidence that a chosen gap in practice is the source of the problem.
• Competency 3: Identify personal bias to create project topics in leadership based on need versus want.
  • Describe the role of removing personal biases in the project discovery process.
• Competency 4: Analyze and assess gaps in practice in leadership to consider specific actionable responses to the gaps.
  • Describe how a gap in practice properly aligns with a specific problem.
• Competency 6: Integrate results from multiple sources to formulate a problem and rationalize a business project in the field of leadership.
  • Use varied sentence structures and correct grammar to convey clear meaning and engage readers.
  • Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.