Each student will complete a term-long action project that will culminate with an original 7- to 10-page paper.

Observe organizational behavior: During this course, take the opportunity to observe organizational behavior firsthand for at least 10 hours during the term. The setting of your observation experience may be your workplace, a small business, a local organization (e.g., a volunteer site, a house of worship group), a St. Francis student club, or a virtual organization (e.g., a professional networking community).

Background and action (1-2 pages)

Take action. Contribute a minimum of 10 hours during the term to a specific organizational situation (engaging in a project, activity, task, or routine operations of the organization).

Present an overview of your organizational experience. What is the setting? What is your role? How do you fit within the organization? Is this a new or ongoing experience for you?

Action component and analysis (5-8 pages)

Identify two specific organizational behavior topics from the list below that were explored this term:

Individual (Micro-Level)

Group (Meso-Level)

Organization (Macro-Level)

·       Diversity*

·       Perception, attitudes, and beliefs

·       Motivation

·       21st century challenges (rapid technology diffusion, globalization, changing definition of work, changing gender roles)

·       Communication

·       Teams

·       Conflict negotiation

·       Decision-making

·       Power and politics

·       Leadership

·       Equity and inclusion*

·       Organizational structure

·       Organizational culture

·       Strategy

* Historically, diversity is considered an individual-level issue in organizational behavior because focus has been on the responses of individual employees to diversity (their perception, attitudes, and beliefs). However, diversity, inclusion, and equity are issues at the macro-level because they require institutional commitment and are embedded into the organizational culture.

Reflect on your experience within the organization as it applies to the topics you identified.

Based on your action and your research into your topics, answer the following questions in your paper.

What strengths does this organization offer to its employees, volunteers, or members?

How would you describe the organization’s ethical climate?

How can this organization improve to better engage and motivate its employees, volunteers, or members?

What specific recommendations do you have do you have for this organization? What actions should they continue, start, or stop based on your analysis of the two topics and your experience within the organization? Remember to support your recommendations with your observations and/or with references.

The paper must include in-text citations and a reference list in APA format. In addition to course readings, you must include at least 5 recent references to credible and reliable sources published in the last 5 years. These references can include to the organization’s website; news media or business publications; and/or academic journals. Please note your reference list is not included in the page length.

Prepare the paper using APA formatting guidelines.

This paper is the culminating written report of your term-long exploration into organizational behavior. Since it includes both a research and an action component, it cannot be completed in a rush at the end of the course. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The paper will be graded based on the MS in Management Writing Rubric.pdf