Assignment
Overview
This course project is
designed to give you real life practical experience while examining some of the
key elements of organizational behavior as they apply to a specific
organization. Additionally, the project
offers you the opportunity to develop and create your own recommendations for
the organization.

Each week, you will
complete a weekly project (parts A – E) and, in week 7, you will synthesize all
of this into a final project that will be your recommendations. For
the weekly projects, you will be conducting research and presenting findings
related to the organization that you selected.
For the final project, you will develop a formal recommendations paper
based on your research. Consider the
weekly projects as a way to examine the current state of the organization. Consider the final project as a way for you
to provide recommendations to better the organization.

Timeline and Point Allocation
See the course calendar
for specific due date:

Topic Selection:
Week 1 (30 points)

Part A:
Week 2 (50 Points)

Part B:
Week 3 (50 points)

Part C:
Week 4 (50 points)

Part D:
Week 5 (50 points)

Part E:
Week 6 (50 points)

Project Recommendations: Week 7 (100 points)

Topic
Selection:
One of the most critical steps in this class is
selecting an organization. You will use
this topic for each weekly project and the Project Recommendations. An organization must be submitted for
approval before you can proceed to the next elements of the assignment. Failure to submit your topic selection by the
due date will preclude you from completing the upcoming project
assignments. When selecting an
organization for purposes of these assignments, its best to select a mid-size
organization where you will be able to access the information needed to
complete these assignments. Selecting an
organization that is too large, like Wal-Mart or GE, will be too significant a
scope for these assignments. Selecting a
small organization of under 20 employees wont provide the needed dynamic to
complete these assignments. When
considering what organization to select, you may select an organization where
you work or have worked. You might also
select an organization that is of interest to you but it should be an
organization where you have access to resources to complete the required
assignments. There are many scholarly
sources available within the Davenport University Library. Additionally, other great resources could be
leaders within the organization who you can interview. One word of caution, its important to maintain
objectivity. This will be demonstrated
by your scholarly research.

For the Project Topic, you will submit a 2 page
(body) APA formatted paper that will include the following:

Name of organization

Reason why you selected this organization

Description of organization that will include
type of industry, number of employees, basic history, any other pertinent
information as to why this is a great selection for your topic.

A minimum of 3 specific APA formatted scholarly
resources that you plan to use in your upcoming research.
The topic must be approved by faculty before you
can proceed.

General Guidelines for Parts A-E and Project Recommendations
Projects
must be completed using APA standards with the inclusion of:Title
pageAbstractIntroductionBody
(with correct use of headings and sub-headings)ConclusionReference
PageAppendices
(as needed)

Projects
must be completed in third person.Parts
A E as well as the Project Recommendations do get submitted to Turnitin
as a routine.These assignments
require that you conduct and assess scholarly research. A good place to start your research is the
online databases accessible through the Davenport University Online Library. [Hint: If you are unsure how to use the
databases ask for help by clicking on the Ask A Librarian link]. You can
also use professional websites and magazines, quality newspapers and
journals. Yet another source would be interviewing leaders within the
organization. Note: References
like Wikipedia may be a good starting point but it is NOT considered academically
credible because the information can be edited by lay people who may not
input accurate and validated information. Parts A – E need to have a minimum of 4
scholarly sources outside of our class resources. With each week, you should be expanding
your reference list rather than using the same references repeatedly. The Project Recommendations needs to
have a minimum of 10 scholarly sources outside of our class resources.It is imperative
that you tie your research and recommendations to the course
material. Be sure to link your
projects to the core concepts from the class.The body for
each of the weekly projects will be
4 6 pages. The body for
the final project will be a minimum of 10 pages.The universitys
policy on plagiarism and academic honesty apply.

Part A: Reward and Performance Practices
Conduct and present research that evaluates the
current reward structure in your selected organization. Be sure to examine both monetary and
non-monetary rewards. Evaluate the
effectiveness of these rewards on performance.
Additionally, assess how this reward system motivates (or fails to
motivate) employees (Note: this is not
where you will make recommendations that will come in the final project).

Part B: Decision-Making
Conduct and present research that evaluates the
decision making process within the organization. Be sure to provide specific examples of
complex decisions that have been made. Discuss
and describe who is involved in the decision-making and who is impacted by the decision-making. Evaluate the effectiveness of this process,
without making recommendations.

Part C: Conflict
Conduct and present research that evaluates how
conflict manifests itself within the organization. Discuss both positive and negative
conflict. Be sure to provide specific
examples. Examine what stressors cause
conflict and what approaches are used to manage conflict

Part D: Leadership and Organizational Structure
Conduct and present research that evaluates the
leadership style fostered in this organization.
Provide examples of both its effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Describe how leaders are (or are not)
nurtured and developed. Analyze how the
organizational structure also manifests itself within the organization.

Part E: Organizational Culture and Change
Conduct and present research that evaluates the
current culture of the organization. Provide
examples of how environmental forces have impacted the organization. As a part of this, identify how the
organization accepts or embraces change as a force.

Project
Recommendations
For this final element, you will synthesize all of
your research and create recommendations to the organizations leaders on ways
that the organization can adjust and improve in the following areas:

Reward and Performance Practices

Decision-making

Conflict

Leadership and Organizational Structure

Organizational Culture and Change

You may include other recommendation sections as
appropriate for your organization.
Justify your research by including scholarly research that
has been conducted on comparable organizations.
Be sure to include both the pros and cons of your recommendations. As a friendly reminder, this is a
professional document and should be completed in third person.Assignment
Overview This course project is
designed to give you real life practical experience while examining some of the
key elements of organizational behavior as they apply to a specific
organization. Additionally, the project
offers you the opportunity to develop and create your own recommendations for
the organization.Each week, you will
complete a weekly project (parts A – E) and, in week 7, you will synthesize all
of this into a final project that will be your recommendations. For
the weekly projects, you will be conducting research and presenting findings
related to the organization that you selected.
For the final project, you will develop a formal recommendations paper
based on your research. Consider the
weekly projects as a way to examine the current state of the organization. Consider the final project as a way for you
to provide recommendations to better the organization.Timeline and Point AllocationSee the course calendar
for specific due date:
Topic Selection:
Week 1 (30 points)
Part A:
Week 2 (50 Points)
Part B:
Week 3 (50 points)
Part C:
Week 4 (50 points)
Part D:
Week 5 (50 points)
Part E:
Week 6 (50 points)
Project Recommendations: Week 7 (100 points)Topic
Selection: One of the most critical steps in this class is
selecting an organization. You will use
this topic for each weekly project and the Project Recommendations. An organization must be submitted for
approval before you can proceed to the next elements of the assignment. Failure to submit your topic selection by the
due date will preclude you from completing the upcoming project
assignments. When selecting an
organization for purposes of these assignments, its best to select a mid-size
organization where you will be able to access the information needed to
complete these assignments. Selecting an
organization that is too large, like Wal-Mart or GE, will be too significant a
scope for these assignments. Selecting a
small organization of under 20 employees wont provide the needed dynamic to
complete these assignments. When
considering what organization to select, you may select an organization where
you work or have worked. You might also
select an organization that is of interest to you but it should be an
organization where you have access to resources to complete the required
assignments. There are many scholarly
sources available within the Davenport University Library. Additionally, other great resources could be
leaders within the organization who you can interview. One word of caution, its important to maintain
objectivity. This will be demonstrated
by your scholarly research. For the Project Topic, you will submit a 2 page
(body) APA formatted paper that will include the following:
Name of organization
Reason why you selected this organization
Description of organization that will include
type of industry, number of employees, basic history, any other pertinent
information as to why this is a great selection for your topic.
A minimum of 3 specific APA formatted scholarly
resources that you plan to use in your upcoming research.The topic must be approved by faculty before you
can proceed.General Guidelines for Parts A-E and Project RecommendationsPart A: Reward and Performance Practices Conduct and present research that evaluates the
current reward structure in your selected organization. Be sure to examine both monetary and
non-monetary rewards. Evaluate the
effectiveness of these rewards on performance.
Additionally, assess how this reward system motivates (or fails to
motivate) employees (Note: this is not
where you will make recommendations that will come in the final project).Part B: Decision-MakingConduct and present research that evaluates the
decision making process within the organization. Be sure to provide specific examples of
complex decisions that have been made. Discuss
and describe who is involved in the decision-making and who is impacted by the decision-making. Evaluate the effectiveness of this process,
without making recommendations.Part C: ConflictConduct and present research that evaluates how
conflict manifests itself within the organization. Discuss both positive and negative
conflict. Be sure to provide specific
examples. Examine what stressors cause
conflict and what approaches are used to manage conflictPart D: Leadership and Organizational StructureConduct and present research that evaluates the
leadership style fostered in this organization.
Provide examples of both its effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Describe how leaders are (or are not)
nurtured and developed. Analyze how the
organizational structure also manifests itself within the organization.Part E: Organizational Culture and ChangeConduct and present research that evaluates the
current culture of the organization. Provide
examples of how environmental forces have impacted the organization. As a part of this, identify how the
organization accepts or embraces change as a force.Project
RecommendationsFor this final element, you will synthesize all of
your research and create recommendations to the organizations leaders on ways
that the organization can adjust and improve in the following areas:
Reward and Performance Practices
Decision-making
Conflict
Leadership and Organizational Structure
Organizational Culture and Change
You may include other recommendation sections as
appropriate for your organization. Justify your research by including scholarly research that
has been conducted on comparable organizations.
Be sure to include both the pros and cons of your recommendations. As a friendly reminder, this is a
professional document and should be completed in third person.