| Course | GM599 Applied Research Project |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Recommendation set |
| Length | About 910 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GM599 Unit 9
A Floor, a Return Right and Shadow Shifts: A Unit 9 Recommendation Set for a Transit Agency
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GM599: Applied Research Project
Unit 9 Recommendation Set
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Wexmoor Regional Transit, its staff and every figure are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Summary
Recommendation one: a negotiated return right. Finding: 49 percent of respondents named lost seniority, rising to about two thirds among the longest-serving, and both operators who withdrew did so on learning the return rule. Action: a side letter with the union local giving promoted operators twelve months to return to driving with their seniority intact, and a sentence added to every supervisor posting explaining the rule. Cost: about 60 hours of staff time. Owner: the labor relations manager. Start: at the next labor-management meeting, within two months. Measure: withdrawals after application, currently 8 of 27.
Recommendation two: paid shadow shifts. Finding: about 35 percent named supervising former coworkers, and all three promoted supervisors described isolation in their first months. Action: sixteen paid hours for up to twenty eligible operators a year to shadow a road supervisor. Cost: about $15,100 a year. Owner: the training superintendent. Start: the next service period. Measure: shadow participants who later apply.
Recommendation three: a supervisor salary floor. Finding: 70 percent named pay loss, about 90 percent in the top earnings band. Action: set the road supervisor salary floor at $91,000, above the $88,300 earned by top-quartile operators. Cost: about $145,800 a year with benefits. Owners: the human resources director and the finance director. Start: the next budget year. Measure: internal applicants per posting.
Total recurring cost: about $160,900 a year.
Why This Order
The recommendations are sequenced from cheapest to most expensive. The return right costs staff time only and can start within two months. If it works, it may reduce withdrawals quickly and give evidence for the larger decision. The shadow shifts cost little and can start in the next service period. The salary floor is the largest cost and requires a budget decision, but it addresses the most common reason. Sequencing them this way lets the agency act at once while the budget review considers the floor. Eric Barends and Denise Rousseau recommend that managers test evidence-based changes where possible and measure their results before scaling them (Barends & Rousseau, 2018).
The salary floor addresses the reason most operators gave, but the return right can start within two months at almost no cost and addresses the reason that made operators withdraw after applying.
Recommendation One in Detail
The collective bargaining agreement now places a promoted operator who returns to driving at the bottom of the seniority list. Abraham and Medoff found tenure counting for far more in unionized settings than elsewhere (Abraham & Medoff, 1985), which helps explain why the rule weighs most on senior operators. A side letter, an agreement between the agency and the union that modifies one provision without reopening the contract, could let promoted operators return within twelve months with their seniority restored. The union has an interest in this, since it protects members who try supervision. The labor relations manager estimates about 60 hours to draft and negotiate it. Separately, human resources should add a sentence to every supervisor posting explaining the seniority rule, which costs nothing and answers the information gap the interviews found.
Recommendation Two in Detail
Linda Hill found that new managers struggle most with the shift from being an individual contributor among peers to holding authority over them (Hill, 2007). Shadow shifts would let operators see the job before deciding, ride with a road supervisor during incidents and talk with supervisors about the transition. Sixteen hours for up to twenty operators is 320 paid hours a year, about $15,100 at loaded operator rates including backfill overtime.
Recommendation Three in Detail
Fifteen of today's supervisors are paid below what the best-paid quarter of operators earn. Raising each to the $91,000 floor means an average increase of about $7,900, and with a benefits load of 23 percent the total comes to about $145,800 a year. George Milkovich and colleagues describe pay floors and range adjustments as standard tools for correcting compression between levels (Milkovich et al., 2020). The floor would need review each year against operator overtime earnings, or the gap could reopen.
Risks and Likely Objections
Finance may object that the salary floor commits recurring money to fifteen people when only a few postings open each year. The answer is that the floor applies to the role, not to new hires alone, because a floor paid only to newcomers would create a new compression problem among current supervisors. The union may hesitate over the side letter if members fear it creates a two-tier seniority list; drafting it to apply equally to every promoted operator, past and future, should address that. And supervisors may resent shadowing operators taking their time; the training superintendent can schedule shadow shifts on quieter weekday afternoons.
What the Recommendations Do Not Do
They do not change supervisors' job duties, add training beyond the shadow shifts or address garage differences, because the evidence did not show those as barriers.
Measures and Review
The human resources director will report three measures to the director of operations every six months: internal applicants per posting, with a target of at least 5 within eighteen months; withdrawals after application; and median days a supervisor position stays vacant, with a target of 50 or fewer.
References
Abraham, K. G., & Medoff, J. L. (1985). Length of service and promotions in union and nonunion work groups. ILR Review, 38(3), 408-420. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979398503800307
Barends, E., & Rousseau, D. M. (2018). Evidence-based management: How to use evidence to make better organizational decisions. Kogan Page.
Hill, L. A. (2007). Becoming the boss. Harvard Business Review, 85(1), 48-56.
Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Gerhart, B. (2020). Compensation (13th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Reading the GM 599 Unit 9 instructions
GM599 Unit 9 asks you to write recommendations from your capstone findings. Begin with a summary that gives each recommendation its finding, action, cost, owner, start and measure. Explain the order you propose, such as cheapest or quickest first, and why. Then give each recommendation a section showing how it answers its finding, how the cost was built and what the literature suggests about it. Answer the objections each is likely to meet from finance, labor or staff. Say what the recommendations do not do and why. Close with the measures, targets and reporting schedule that will show whether they worked. Around five pages is typical, led by a single-page table or its written equivalent, citing sources on evidence-based management and the actions proposed in APA 7.
Inside the GM599 Unit 9 example
The summary lists the return right, tied to 49 percent naming seniority and both withdrawals, at about 60 hours; shadow shifts, tied to about 35 percent naming former coworkers and supervisors' isolation, at about $15,100; and the salary floor, tied to 70 percent naming pay, at about $145,800, totaling about $160,900 recurring. The order section cites Barends and Rousseau on testing and measuring changes, and the highlighted sentence explains why the return right starts first. Detail sections explain the side letter with Abraham and Medoff, the 320 shadow hours with Hill and the floor's average $7,900 raise and 23 percent benefits load with Milkovich and colleagues. Objections from finance, the union and supervisors are answered. Exclusions note no job, training or garage changes. Measures target five applicants per posting within eighteen months and vacancies of 50 days or fewer.
Where the points sit in the GM599 Unit 9 rubric
GM599 rubric credit for this set depends on recommendations traced to findings and costed so a sponsor can check them. Instructors look for a summary that pairs each action with its finding, cost, owner, start and measure. The order should be explained. Each detail section should show how the cost was built and connect the action to the literature. Answering likely objections from finance, labor or staff shows realism. Saying what the recommendations do not do, because the evidence did not support it, shows restraint. Measures with targets and a reporting schedule make the set accountable. Barends and Rousseau, Abraham and Medoff, Hill in Harvard Business Review and Milkovich, Newman and Gerhart provide the citations in APA 7.
GM599 Unit 9 help from the desk
Many GM599 Unit 9 recommendation sets list good ideas that are not tied to any finding, which weakens their authority. Others give a total cost with no breakdown, inviting the first question a budget reviewer asks. A frequent gap is the order: when the largest recommendation needs a budget cycle, cheaper actions that can start now may deserve to go first. Some writers ignore the union or other parties whose agreement an action needs. Tie each action to a finding, cost it visibly, assign an owner and start, explain the order, answer objections, state what you are not recommending and set measures with targets.
Get a GM599 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Send your findings, any cost figures you can obtain and the recommendation prompt with its rubric. We will draft a set in which every action traces to a finding, carries costed arithmetic, a responsible office, a launch date and a measurable target, sequenced by lead time. It is ready in 24-48h, free the first time. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GM599 Unit 9 questions, answered
How precise do cost estimates need to be?
Precise enough that a sponsor can check the arithmetic. The page shows fifteen supervisors below the floor, an average increase of about 7,900 dollars and a benefits load of 23 percent. Round figures are acceptable if their basis is visible. An unexplained total invites the first question any budget reviewer asks.
Should recommendations involving a union be included?
Yes, if the finding points there, framed as a proposal for bargaining rather than a unilateral change. The page recommends seeking a side letter, assigns it to the labor relations manager and leaves the terms to bargaining. It avoids predicting the union's response and names the risk that negotiation takes longer than planned.
What if the organization cannot afford the largest recommendation?
Then the set should show what the cheaper actions achieve alone and how to tell whether the expensive one is still needed. The page sequences shadow shifts and the return right first, both inexpensive, so their effect on applications can be measured before the salary floor reaches the budget.
Where can I find a free GM599 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page carries a full GM599 Unit 9 recommendation set for a transit agency, with three actions traced to findings, costs, owners, measures and APA 7 references.
Why does the return right come before the salary floor?
It costs only staff time, can start within two months and addresses the reason operators withdrew after applying. Its effect on withdrawals can be measured before the salary floor reaches the budget.