Question Week 1 discussion

30 May Question Week 1 discussion

Question

<pclass=”msonormal” style=”box-sizing: border-box;”>Week 1 discussion

In both the academic (student) and professional (career) domains, critical thinking is a valued skill. Your professors assess the depth of critical thinking and might urge you to consider concepts more deeply. Similarly, hiring managers might ask about your critical thinking skill and ask you to provide examples of how you have demonstrated such skill.

Select any one of the following starter bullet point sections. Review the important themes within the sub questions of each bullet point. The sub questions are designed to get you thinking about some of the important issues. Your response should provide a succinct synthesis of the key themes in a way that articulates a clear point, position, or conclusion supported by research. Select a different bullet point section than what your classmates have already posted so that we can engage several discussions on relevant topics. If all of the bullet points have been addressed, then you may begin to re-use the bullet points with the expectation that varied responses continue.

What does it mean to think critically? What are the various dimensions of critical thinking? That is, what do critical thinkers do or how do we assess the quality of critical thinking? Analyze one of the critical thinking dimensions. How does critical thinking apply to leaders? Managers? Organizations?

Review the material you’ve read in course lectures and the assigned textbook selections. What is a unique and challenging critical question you would like to raise about this material? (Your question may be about something controversial, about which you have your doubts. It may suggest that a theory or a model has weaknesses, challenge the truth of proposed relationships between variables, or assess the value of a suggested practice.) Defend your perspective.

South University has four specific objectives called Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). SLOs include: Specialization expertise (content and competency), critical thinking, information literacy, and communication. Briefly define each of those objectives and assess how they might interact with or influence one other. Summarize a development plan you might use for yourself to enhance your skill for each objective. How might mastery of the objectives enhance your career path?

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1- to 2- single-spaced pages (500–1000 words) in length.

Week 2 discussion

In the digital age, new channels of communication have developed that simply did not exist a few decades ago. Cell phones, e-mail, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter… who knows what might develop next? However, not every channel of communication is right for different types of messages or communication needs.

Select any one of the following starter bullet point sections. Review the important themes within the sub questions of each bullet point. The sub questions are designed to get you thinking about some of the important issues. Your response should provide a succinct synthesis of the key themes in a way that articulates a clear point, position, or conclusion supported by research. Select a different bullet point section than what your classmates have already posted so that we can engage several discussions on relevant topics. If all of the bullet points have been addressed, then you may begin to re-use the bullet points with the expectation that varied responses continue.

Given that employees are essentially accessible 24/7, organizations should create some best practices for using the variety of digital communications available for business. Research tips and advice on how to best use channels of electronic communication. Justify your own list of three best practice recommendations.

You have carefully drafted a message to inform employees of a change to the attendance tracking system in your organization that will launch next week. The change only pertains to some technical matters, but may be misunderstood by the workforce. A virus threat shuts down internal e-mail just before your message is ready. You now have a choice of communicating with employees through Facebook or postponing the communication. Justify your choice.

Two employees of your organization took their work-related disagreements to Twitter, and disciplinary action has been taken against both according to company policy. However, their public quarrel was seen by employees and customers. Should the company respond? If yes, through which channel of digital communication should it respond? Defend your choice.

Create an annotated reference list of three sources that provide tips and advice on how to best use channels of electronic communication. An annotated reference page means that each reference is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph to inform the reader of key points, relevance, accuracy, and quality of the cited source.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1- to 2- single-spaced pages (500–1000 words) in length.

Week 3 discussion

Although studying theory might seem to be an effort separate from practice (e.g., professional activities), good theories emerge from assessing practice. Accordingly, theories can possess some usefulness in prescribing positive actions for leaders and organizations.

Assume you are the manager of a department in an organization. Select two of the theories you learned about this week that you believe will be most useful in managing your staff. (Be sure to review the supplemental readings as well). Select different theories or different combinations of theories than your classmates select. Address the following:

Assess why you find the two theories you selected most practical or helpful.

Evaluate how the two theories might interact with each other.

Analyze whether you anticipate needing different motivational methods applying your selected theories according to the ages, races, national origins, cultures, genders, and educational backgrounds of your subordinates. Provide appropriate citations to support your conclusions.

Justify three best practices that emerge from your selected theories (three best practices total. You do not need three best practices for each theory).

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1- to 2- single-spaced pages (500–1000 words) in length.

Week 4 discussion

You have been asked to lead a ten-person team within your department. You know that several of these team members have not worked well together on previous group projects, so you have decided to put the team through a series of team-building activities.

Select any one of the following starter bullet point sections. Review the important themes within the sub questions of each bullet point. The sub questions are designed to get you thinking about some of the important issues. Your response should provide a succinct synthesis of the key themes in a way that articulates a clear point, position, or conclusion supported by research. Select a different bullet point section than what your classmates have already posted so that we can engage several discussions on relevant topics. If all of the bullet points have been addressed, then you may begin to re-use the bullet points with the expectation that varied responses continue.

Define your top three goals or objectives for the team-building activities for the scenario. Defend why those goals are appropriate. Also assess at least two other possible goals and justify why they did not make your top-three list.

Select two articles that discuss whether team-building activities really help. Briefly note what you learned from the articles. Did they guide you to select the best activities, or did they warn you away from certain activities? Justify three best practices for team building activities that emerge from the articles.

Team dynamics include both productivity (task) and cohesiveness (relationship) components. Identify three team building activities and assess the extent each influences on productivity and cohesion. Evaluate how cohesion and productivity are linked.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1 to 2 single-spaced pages (500–1000 words) in length.

Week 5 discussion

Assume you are the manager of the department where you currently work. If you are not currently working, use a past situation or a hypothetical situation; be sure to describe it. Select two leadership theories that you believe will be most useful in managing your staff. Select different theories or different combinations of theories than your classmates select. Respond to the following

Assess why you think these theories will be most practical or helpful.

Evaluate how the two theories might interact with one another.

Analyze whether you anticipate needing different leadership methods (based on your two selected theories) according to the ages, races, national origins, cultures, genders, educational backgrounds, or job types of your subordinates. Provide necessary illustrations and citations to justify your conclusions.

Justify three best practices that emerge from your selected leadership theories (three best practices total. You do not need three best practices for each theory).

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1- to 2-single-spaced pages (500–1000 words) in length.

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.

Week 2 Project

Course Project: Change Management

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.

Change Management

Using the same organization that you selected in Week 1, propose a change that your organization could implement that would aid it strategically. The proposed change might relate to some area of need, performance deficiency, or other opportunity that you observe in the organization. Note: You will be proposing a change initiative related to motivation in next week’s assignment. Accordingly, focus your change project for this week’s paper in a direction other than motivation.

Write a paper addressing the following:

Describe the change that you propose and defend its benefits to the organization.

Evaluate how the proposed change may affect various groups of employees.

Assess the conflicts that might occur before, during, and after the change, including why you anticipate these conflicts.

Defend at least three best practices to prevent or resolve those conflicts.

Justify the channels of communication the organization should use in implementing this change.

Week 3 Project

Course Project: Change for Motivation

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.

Use the same organization that you selected in Week 1.

Scenario:

Management has reviewed your work from two weeks ago about how the employees’ low job motivation may affect the company internally and externally and determined that there is sufficient evidence to support an organizational change. It has asked you to recommend changes that will help to boost employee job motivation.

Recall that a survey showed job motivation among employees was lower than average, with complaints such as:

My job is so boring!

My boss micromanages me but never tells me how I’m doing.

I’ve been in my position for seven to fifteen years, but I am never allowed to provide any input about making the work better.

Write a paper in which you:

Defend at least two organizational changes and explain how these changes will improve job motivation in the workforce. Support your recommendations by citing the theories covered in the readings or your own research.

Assess potential conflicts that may arise due to the changes, including why you anticipate these conflicts.

Justify a change implementation plan for leading the change initiatives and helping the organization overcome any resistance to the changes.

Justify an appropriate communication plan that announces the changes and continues through the change management process.

Week 4 Project

Course Project: Team Building

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.

Continue to use the organization you selected for your final project in Week 1. This week, you are being placed on a ten-person virtual team. You decide that prior to the team getting started on the project, you want to do some research that will help you identify ways to make your virtual team most effective. You may need to create hypothetical details about the team and its purpose on the basis of what you know of the organization you selected for the final project.

On the basis of your research, write a paper addressing the following:

Assess the purpose of the team (i.e., what is the project it has been assigned?) and the contribution of key members to team purpose.

Analyze four to six potential problems that virtual teams typically face. Is the hypothetical team you described susceptible to these problems? What specific problems might it develop?

Justify four to six viable solutions to make your team effective, including why these solutions will work.

Week 5 Project

Course Project: Leadership Training

It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete this major assignment. Plan time to start the research and other work for this assignment earlier than the week in which it is due.

The organization you selected in Week 1 is designing training for all the managers at all levels. It wants to base the training on one leadership theory.

Tasks:

Write a paper recommending a leadership theory. Address the following:

Summarize key details about the organization and two or three of the most important insights you have developed so far about the organization during your course project. This one paragraph summary should provide just enough information that someone who has not ready any of your papers so far would have a brief background for understanding your project organization.

Why do you believe your chosen leadership theory is the best for your organization? What is your rationale? What research can you cite to support your choice? What are the factors in your organization that make your selected leadership theory the best choice?

How will using this theory positively impact the following variables?

Managers’ behavior toward subordinates and its effect on subordinates

Communication

Motivation of subordinates

Group and team behavior

Decision making

Culture

Be sure that you conduct the research necessary to support your conclusions and cite your sources appropriately.

Week 1 Knowledge Check

An open system receives input from its environment, transforms it, and produces output

Question 1 options:

True

False

Question 2

Humans are an important part of the transformation process (input à output) in an organizational systems model.

Question 2 options:

True

False

Question 3

A systems view of organizations suggests that each person is a self-contained unit unaffected by others in the organization.

Question 3 options:

True

False

Question 4

Individuals, teams, and organizations can all be considered systems.

Question 4 options:

True

False

Question 5

Job satisfaction does not affect how a person performs on a job.

True

False

Week 2 Knowledge Check

Question 1

Because change is pervasive, one of an organization’s primary objectives is to prevent all change.

Question 1 options:

True

False

Question 2

Change drivers often trigger a sequence of changes with one change leading to the next change.

Question 2 options:

True

False

Question 3

Diversity, technology, globalization, and economic uncertainty are among key change trends affecting organizations.

Question 3 options:

True

False

Question 4

The rate of change doubles every year.

Question 4 options:

True

False

Question 5

Job performance emerges from capacity, opportunity, and willingness to perform the job.

Question 5 options:

True

False

Week 3 Knowledge Check

Question 1

An individual’s motivation starts with a perceived physiological or psychological need.

Question 1 options:

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