Assignment: This assignment is to write a 5 page reflection paper after reading and considering the lessons in the Ropes book. Obviously, there is no write answer. However, your paper should contain all necessary sections, be well thought out, and be written as a formal comprehensive course project.
Two Options:
Option 1 - Individual Incident Reflection: Identify a previous event in your life which did not go the way you wanted, primarily because of an interaction you had with another individual or individuals. Reflecting on this event and the tales in the ropes, choose one or several tails in the Ropes which illustrate a more effective way of handling the situation discussed above. At this point, use the ropes tail(s), and one or several relevant management theories to explain how you would approach a similar situation in the future. In other words, how would you achieve different and hopefully much better outcomes in a similar future situation?
Option 2 - Organizational Incident Reflection: Identify a previous organizational program or initiative which did not go as the organization planned, primarily due to people issues. Thus, do not pick an event that failed due to non people issues such as a lack of resources. Further, imagine you are a manager in charge of implementing an organizational program or initiative to address the same issue that the failed program or initiative discussed above was unable to solve. Reflecting on this hypothetical situation and the tales in the ropes, choose one or several tails in the Ropes which illustrate a more effective way of implementing the organizational program or initiative discussed above. At this point, use the ropes tail(s), and one or several relevant management theories to explain how you would approach the implementation of the organizational program or initiative in a more effective manner. In other words, how would you achieve different and hopefully much better outcomes than the organization experienced?
Parts of the Paper
Introduction: Briefly introduce the reader to the event you are about to analyze in detail. You may consider telling a small piece of the story, why was it such a bad experience.
Body: In the body of the paper, cover the following issues in detail:
Situation overview: What exactly happened? Why did it happen? What effect did the life event or failed organizational program have?
Related Ropes chapters: What chapters in the Ropes made you think back to the event described above? Why?
Management Theory: We will discuss a wide variety of management theories this semester. Identify one or a couple of these theories that relate to your situation. The theories may be relevant in the way in which the situation unfolded, how the situation could be handled in the future, or both.
Similar Future Situations: At this point, explain to the reader how after considering management theories and the implications of the specific Ropes chapters you discussed above, how would you go about handling similar situations or implementing organizational programs more effectively in the future?
Conclusion: Wrap it up! What was the main point of your paper and why?
Format of the paper
Title page: include name of paper, your name, my name, mgt 3312, and summer 2015
Body: The paper should include approximately five pages of double spaced, well written text in 12 point times new roman font on 8 by 11 inch paper.
Finally, PROOFREAD!! This is a formal paper and should be written in such a manner. Also, refer to the syllabus for specific grading policies regarding proofreading.
Idea assignment: You are required to get your idea for the Behavioral Analysis paper approved by me. This is so only one of each specific type of situation or organizational program is written about this semester. Thus, on or before Wednesday June 24 at 9 AM, you must send me an email including a short outline of what you plan to write about. Specifically, the outline should contain a very short description of the four sections of the paper (situation overview, related ropes tail, related management theory, and analysis of similar future situation).