Organizational Behavior Analysis: Research & Recommend

Organizational Behavior Analysis: Research & Recommend
For this assignment, you may work alone or in a pair to conduct an OB audit of a fictional
organization. The purpose of the assignment is for you or your team to apply course concepts
to an organization and its practices.
In a typical term, you would have worked with a real organization to gather information
through interviews with employees. With that information and after conducting research on an
organizational topic you would have created recommendations that the organization could
implement. Due to COVID-19, this term will look different in that you will use a fictional
organization. I encourage you to have fun with this, use your creativity, but also be sure to use
the knowledge you gain in our course in the paper. I look forward to reading what you come up
with.
Step One: Select a Topic
Select a topic from the list of class topics below.
• Job Attitudes: investigate the level of job satisfaction and organizational commitment
within the organization; examine the antecedents (predictors) of these attitudes
• Work Motivation: use a motivation theory to assess work motivation at the
organization
• Job Design: apply the Job Characteristics Model and analyze jobs from this perspective
• Feedback: analyze the performance appraisal system used by the organization to
provide feedback to employees
• Stress Management: analyze the organization’s programs aimed at managing employee
stress
• Diversity: identify and analyze a diversity program within the organization; investigate
the level of diversity in the organization, the organization’s plan for managing diversity,
and employees’ perceptions of and/or attitudes toward diversity management
• Leadership Effectiveness: using leadership theories investigate the type of leadership
within the organization and its outcomes
• Organizational Culture: analyze the culture of the organization
Step Two: Research Your Topic
The goal of this project is to conduct an organizational analysis. Using your research, you will
identify what the organization is doing well and poorly with respect to the chosen topic.
Further, using this research, you will provide recommendations about how to address any
deficiencies or problems with the organization.
You should start your research by reading the corresponding section/chapter of the textbook,
as well as review any slides that may have been presented. You will also find at least 7 peerreviewed journal articles published 2001 or later for your chosen topic. I recommend that you
use Google Scholar, EBSCO host, and/or PsycINFO (which may all be accessed via the PSU
library website) to find and access peer-reviewed journal articles.
Step Three: Find an Organization (i.e., watch some TV)
Now find an organization to research and in particular select a certain scene or episode of a
fictional organization to investigate. The scene or episode should highlight something about
your topic. For example, does the scene show poor leadership, an inability to manage diversity
in the workplace, low motivation, or perhaps high stress. This is where your creativity comes in.
Remember the point of the paper is for you to be give recommendations to create a better
work environment so pick a scene or episode that will allow you to easily provide 3
recommendations.
Some potential “organizations” to investigate but feel free to use what you want
• Cheers
• Silicon Valley
• The Office
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Workaholics
• Parks & Recreation
• 30 Rock
• Are you being Served?
An important point: we are looking for organizational problems/solutions so no papers on Dr.
Meredith Grey’s love life.
Check-In Point (Week 5)
Submit a word document with the following information:
• Your name and if in a team, the name of your team member
• Your topic (remember only one topic, see step 1)
• A two sentence description on what a peer reviewed article is (see this link for help)
• One sentence on how intend to find your peer-reviewed articles (see this)
• Your “organization” – what show will you be using
• Finally, provide the name of the episode you will be using as an example to explore
your topic along with 1-2 sentences that summarizes the episode
Step Four: Ace my homework – Write the Term Paper
For the final step, write the 7-10 page (excluding title page and references) paper. Follow the
term project format instructions below.
Term Paper Project Timeline
STEP TASK START FINISH
1 Select topic Week 2 Week 3
2 Begin to research your topic Week 3 Week 5
3 Find your organization Week 3 Week 5
CHECK-IN Submit your topic, organization, and info on your research strategy Week 5
2 cont. Continue to research your topic Week 6 Week 7
4 Ace my homework – Write term paper Week 7 Week 10
Team Project Paper Format
General Formatting and Submission Guidelines
• Double-spaced; size 12 Times New Roman font
• 7-10 pages in length
• 1-inch margins on all sides of the paper
• Turn in the paper in Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx)
• Turn in the completed paper by the deadline via D2L
• Turn in one copy of the paper. So, if you are working in a pair, only one person needs to
turn in the paper but make sure EVERYONE’S name is listed on the title page
Title Page (1 page)
• Title of paper
• Your name or all the names of all group members
Introduction (1/2 – 1 page)
• Provide an overview of the paper
• Assignment Help – Summarize the structure/outline of the paper
Overview of the Organization (1/2 page)
• Provide a brief overview of the organization (e.g., industry, product/service, etc.)
• Be creative here, you may not know much about your organization but try to provide
some background
Findings (3 – 4 pages)
• Describe what you found at your organization (i.e. what is the episode about)
• Describe what the organization is doing; describe whether the organization’s
practices/programs are working or if they are not as it relates to your topic
o Be specific here, what is happing in the episode that shows you something about
your topic. For example, how do you know that the actors in your episode are
struggling with motivation.
• In this section, only write about the organization and what it is doing with respect to
your focal topic; DO NOT summarize journal articles—rather, use journal articles to help
support a point or evaluation you are making about the organization’s
practices/programs
o This point is important, relate your research with your episode. I don’t want
summaries of the articles but rather use them to support what you are seeing in
your episode. See the below sentence as an example.
Based on the research of Barling, Slater, and Kelloway (2000) transformational leaders are often
more emotionally intelligent but, in my organization, it is evident that Mr. Scott is self-absorbed
and lacks emotional intelligence. This may explain his more transactional style of leadership.
Recommendations (3-5 pages)
• Based on your findings, provide at least 3 recommendations for how the organization
might address its weaknesses/deficiencies with respect to your topic
• Describe what the organization is doing well and poorly with respect to your chosen
topic—your background research and theory will help you here
• Make sure that your recommendations are logical and feasible
• Apply key course terms and concepts where appropriate
• Cite the appropriate journal article authors to give credit where credit is due
• Make sure your recommendations are based on specific issues facing the organizations
(i.e., NOT generic best practices or advice) and that you cite journal articles to justify
your recommendations
• Stick to your topic—please refrain from making recommendations related to other
topics
• Be sure to cite your articles using Ace homework tutors – APA style
Conclusion (1/4 – 1/2 page)
• Provide a summary of the organization
• Assignment Help – Summarize your findings
• Assignment Help – Summarize your recommendations
References
• Provide a reference list for all sources you used
• Use Ace homework tutors – APA style—a citation manager software (e.g., EndNote, Mendelay) can help (see
this link for help with this)
• See me if you have any questions about formatting
Plagiarism
• Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and your project will receive a zero if I detect any
plagiarism.
• For this project, write everything in your own words and cite where necessary.
• Remember that if one person on your team plagiarizes and you submit the paper, then
everyone on the team has plagiarized.
• Reusing a paper from another class is unacceptable academic behavior (and we faculty
do talk to one another).
Grading Rubric
Paper Component Description 75 Points
Check-in: 5
Term paper: 70
Journal Articles • Cite at least 7 peer-reviewed journal articles published
2001 or later
• Cite papers in the body of the paper to support
recommendations
10
Findings • Present the information in a logical manner that is easy
for the reader to follow and understand.
• Provide complete and detailed coverage of the topic as it
relates to what the organization is doing.
• Provide the strengths and weaknesses of what the
organization is doing.
20
Recommendations • Provide recommendations based on the weaknesses or
poor practices your group identified.
• Provide recommendations that are specific to the
organization, your topic, and the issues facing the
organization.
• Provide justification for each recommendation—this is
where your background research and journal articles can
provide a rationale and justification.
• Make sure that your recommendations correspond to
your chosen topic.
• Make it clear by citing research that you reviewed the OB
literature.
• Provide multiple recommendations (at least 3)
30
Writing Quality • Adhere to the formatting instructions and include all
relevant sections.
• Cite and reference in Ace homework tutors – APA style.
• Use proper syntax and grammar.
• Spellcheck the document.
10

Published by

Ace Tutors

View all posts