BUS 210 Module Two Assignment Guidelines and Rubric

Overview

Using management skills and practices that suit your team and its objectives can help to ensure the team’s efficiency and productivity. Analyze the scenario provided to determine how management skills and practices can help support the team.

Scenario

Imagine that you are an organizational consultant for the SNHU Pet Supply Company. The director of retail operations has asked you to evaluate why there has been a drop in the team's productivity. You are to make recommendations for their improvement. Further conversations with the team members and managers reveal a conflict in the way productivity and efficiency are being measured and handled. 

The team members say that their managers micromanage them. Each week, the managers send out a task list for the team and expect them to fill out detailed timesheets every day to cross-reference the task list. Any deviations from the list must be explained in a separate email. Moreover, some team members feel their skill sets are not being used correctly and that they would be better suited to do tasks that are not being assigned to them. This process has led to some resentment within the team and high levels of stress to meet the managers’ demands.

The managers maintain that they have just been following the process set out in the company for years. The many unresolved issues are taking a toll on the team’s productivity and efficiency, which then feeds back into the conflict, creating a vicious circle.

Directions

Write a brief report to the director of retail operations that explains the management skills and practices you feel will improve team productivity and efficiency. Use the module reading to support your recommendations.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Overview: Provide a brief overview of the problem you have been asked to resolve, making sure to note specific areas of conflict between management approaches and employee feedback based on the provided scenario.
2. Management Approaches: Describe the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, making sure to use course resources to support your explanation.
3. Recommendations: Recommend a new management approach, consisting of a blend of management skills and practices, that you believe will help improve the team’s productivity and efficiency. Explain why you believe these approaches will be effective, making sure to use course resources to support your recommendations.

What to Submit

Your submission should be a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Module Two Assignment Rubric

CriteriaExceeds Expectations (100%)Meets Expectations (85%)Partially Meets Expectations (55%)Does Not Meet Expectations (0%)ValueOverviewExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerProvides a brief overview of the problem, making sure to note specific areas of conflict between management approaches and employee feedback based on the provided scenarioShows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing a clearer overview or including specific areas of conflict based on the scenarioDoes not attempt criterion10Management ApproachesExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerDescribes the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, making sure to use course resources to support the explanationShows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include describing in sufficient detail the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, or better using course resources to support the explanationDoes not attempt criterion40RecommendationsExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerRecommends approaches (blends of management skills and practices) that will help improve the team’s productivity and efficiency and explains why these approaches will be effective, making sure to use course resources to support the recommendationsShows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include recommending more than one new management approach and explaining with sufficient detail and clarity how these approaches will be effectiveDoes not attempt criterion30Clear CommunicationExceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understandingConsistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audienceShows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understandingShows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication15Citations and AttributionsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errorsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errorsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errorsDoes not use citations for ideas requiring attribution5Total:100%