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7. Real World Paper. (170 pts)
This course will be of little use to you unless you apply the principles that you learn. To this end, you will have an opportunity to apply course concepts to a “real world problem.” Your goal is to convince me that you understand OB theory and concepts and how to apply them to real, dynamic situations. For this assignment, you will first interview a leader of an organization who is facing an OB problem related to course concepts (e.g., employee performance, motivation, recovery, leadership, teamwork). Thus, a leader facing a non-OB problem such as fighting industry regulations, losing market share, etc. will not work for this assignment. The leader must also directly supervise at least three other individuals and work in the leadership role at least 40 hours a week. I encourage you to utilize your personal networks to find a suitable leader for this assignment. Regarding this interview, you should:
• Develop a short list of interview questions before you talk with the leader. You might ask the leader open-ended questions such as, “What keeps you up at night?” “What employee behaviors would you like to change if you could?”, or “If you had infinite time and resources, how would you solve this organizational behavior problem?” But write some of your own questions to ask beforehand.
• Aim to interview this leader for 20-30 minutes
• Take notes or record the interview. This will help you later as you write your paper
• Spend a few minutes learning about the background of the leader and the organization
• Learn about what OB problems exist, ranging from large, one-time problems to small chronic ones
• Discover what the leader is doing, has tried, or will do to solve the OB problem to inform your understanding of what is causing the problem
• Consider sharing some theory or principles you’ve learned during this course during the interview to hear the leader’s perspective related to these ideas
After digesting what you learned from the interview, your next task is to take one of the theories we are reviewing in the course and apply the theory to this real world problem. It is optimal to select a theory that matches the organizational problem. For example, if there is high turnover and low job satisfaction (i.e., morale), applying the job characteristics model would be a superior choice. Alternatively, if the leader is having difficulty motivating her/his employees, it would be fitting to apply self-determination theory or equity theory. I have provided you with some guidance regarding Write a paper on what appropriate theories you might use to address the problem with a theory summary sheet. You need to select a theory that we are covering this term—you cannot choose another theory that we are not covering. Applying an appropriate theory will help you produce a defensible solution to the organizational problem—likely worth sharing with the leader you interviewed!
You will then write a 1,500-2,000 word paper (about five pages double spaced, 11 or 12 point Calibri or Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins). You are responsible for citing the sources used in your paper. You need to use APA formatting to cite your references (the readings list in this syllabus is composed in APA formatting.
The paper should include the following sections:
1. Provide an overview of the organization and the leader
2. Describe the OB problem the leader is facing
3. Describe the OB theory you have chosen at a general level—what does the theory say independent of this situation?
4. Apply the OB theory to the OB problem and provide a recommendation: What should the leader do based on what the theory teaches us? For this section, only provide recommendations on what to do based on what the theory says, not what you personally think.
5. Additional recommendations: Are there other insights or recommendations you have that stem from your own or others’ opinions or experiences?
6. References. I expect you to cite at least three sources in your paper. These sources can be web articles, journal articles, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. You might consider citing the course readings as you develop your paper.
