Week 1
Project
Course Project: Organizational Behavior Perspectives
The course project has major assignments that will be due in
Weeks 3 and 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete
them. Plan time to start the research and other work for those assignments
earlier than the week in which they are due.
Course Project Scenario
Your course project is to identify potential organizational
behavior problems and recommend solutions for an organization with which you
are familiar. All your weekly, written papers will be course project tasks.
Early in Week 1, identify an organization you would be
interested in studying. You will investigate the organizational behavior in
this organization and research best practice solutions for any problems you
observe. You may select your own organization, the organization of a family
member, or an organization that interests you. Be sure to review each week’s
assignments before selecting the organization to make sure you can locate
necessary information. Contact your instructor early in the week if you need
advice on your organizational selection. As much as possible, you should
utilize actual research and real data for your project. Occasionally, you may
fill in some details with hypothetical information. However, you are expected
to provide documentation (e.g., citations) throughout your work.
Each week, you will write on the topics identified in that
week’s reading, so note any information you find related to any of the
following topics:
Systems theory
Individual behavior
Communication
Change
Conflict
Motivation
Groups and teams
Making decisions
Organizational culture
Leadership
Week 1
Assume that the human resources department of your selected
organization has received disappointing results on a job motivation survey
administered to all employees at all levels. The results indicate that
employees reported lower-than-industry-average job motivation, and management
is concerned. Employee comments on the survey included the following:
My job is so boring!
My boss micromanages me but never tells me how I’m doing.
I’ve been in my position for fifteen years, but I am never
allowed to provide any input about making the work better.
You have been tasked with writing a paper that reviews the
theoretical perspectives relevant to the situation in your organization. In
particular, you are interested in systems theory and job motivation for this
week’s analysis.
Tasks:
Write a paper addressing the following:
Summary: Identify the organization you select and provide a
summary of it. What is it? What does it do? Cite research from a variety of
sources, including the company’s website, social media sites, company blogs,
industry and trade sources, and other sources. The summary should include the
organization’s products or services, customer or client base, areas of
operation or distribution, history, main competition, and current situation
(whether it is an industry leader, a start-up, or a well-established
corporation).
Analysis: Analyze the factors that affect job motivation and
the internal and external consequences of low job motivation. At this time, you
do not need to propose any solutions. Rather, you are using scholarly
literature and data (e.g., observations, discussions, events, outcomes,
reports, etc.) from your organization to analyze factors and consequences
related to job motivation.
