Module 1 - Case Assignment: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKPLACE
Assignment Overview
Managers often notice the relationship between attitudes and job performance. Have you ever heard someone say, "With that go-get 'em attitude, she will set new sales records!" or "His attitude is so poor, he never produces quality work." However, managers seldom realize that they can affect an employee's work attitudes (such as job satisfaction and commitment), which in turn can affect job outcomes such as turnover, absenteeism, and productivity.
Case Assignment
In this first Case Assignment, you will be viewing a clip from the movie "Office Space." This video demonstrates work attitudes, factors that can shape those attitudes, and the end effect on work behavior. As you watch the clip, make some notes about examples you see that give you some clues about the different characters and:
o Job satisfaction
o Attitudes toward management
o Attitudes toward co-workers
o Organizational Commitment
o Work environment and conditions (such as physical surroundings)
View the following movie clip from the movie Office Space:
Read the following article from the Trident University Library:
Riordan, C. (2013) The power of "thank you": 3 steps to a culture of gratitude. HR Specialist, 11(17),7.
Hint: Just copy and paste the title of the article into the Library Access search box on the Trident University Portal page. Do not include the author's name or publication; the article title is all you need.
After reading the above article, background material, and reviewing your notes on the video, consider the following questions:
• How would you characterize the general work environment at Initech?
• What are Peter's attitudes about working at Initech? What are the likely causes of those attitudes?
• How does he feel about his supervisors?
• Do his co-workers show similar attitudes?
• What do you predict would be the effect of these attitudes on job commitment, absenteeism, and turnover? Why?
Now, write a 3- to 4-page paper discussing the film clip and the above questions. A good way to organize your paper would be to divide it into the following sections:
1. Introduction that briefly describes the situation at Initech. (one paragraph)
2. The Environment at Initech (including supervision style and physical environment)
3. The observed job attitudes of Peter and his co-workers
4. The likely outcomes of those attitudes
5. Conclusion that makes one recommendation for a change that Lumbergh could make that would improve job satisfaction among employees at Initech.
Be sure to support your arguments with references to the background readings and use specific examples from the clip to illustrate your main points.
Module 1 - SLP: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKPLACE
For the Session Long Project, you will be applying the concepts from the background materials to your own personal workplace experiences. Instead of writing a paper for the SLP assignments, you will be doing journaling (keeping a journal). Journaling involves writing down thoughts and sometimes emotions clearly and specifically. For an individual to benefit from journaling, experts sometimes recommend writing for up to 20 minutes per day. Our SLP assignments will not ask quite that much, but who knows? By the end of the course you may have picked up a journaling habit.
You can read about Journaling in your textbook (page 20) here:
Organizational Behavior. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Edition 2017, Minneapolis MN.
Hint: You can download the textbook as a PDF file so you will not be dependent on access to the link.
If you are interested, then you can also read about the relationship between journaling and stress management here:
Scott, E. (April 2018) The benefits of journaling for stress management.
For this first SLP, review the background material, especially about person-job fit, personality, and attitudes. Then as you go about your work day, try to observe how these issues are manifest or show themselves in your place of work. For example, you might notice that there is an excellent person-job fit for one of your co-workers and from what you have learned in the background material you now understand why. Or you might notice how a particular co-worker's personality showed itself in the way he or she reacted to something. Be creative in trying to notice what is happening around you at your workplace.
Over the course of the module make a journal entry of a least a paragraph or two (the length should be up to a half-page) on 4 or 5 separate days.
Note: A good paragraph contains a topic sentence, supporting sentence(s), and a concluding sentence. If you want to read about what writing a paragraph involves, refer to the following reading:
Writing Explained: What is a Paragraph? Definition, Examples of Paragraphs.
Your 4 or 5 separate journal entries should accumulate to 2 or 3 pages by the end of the module.
Before you submit your journal entries, review what you have written and add in-text citations from the background material as appropriate. Also include a reference page at the end of your paper that gives the references that correspond to the in-text citations that you have used. For completeness, don't forget to add a title page.
Upload your assignment to the SLP 1 Dropbox. Be sure to review your TurnItIn Originality report. If the score is over 20%, you may not be writing in your own words and you will need to contact your professor and arrange to revise and resubmit your assignment.
SLP Assignment Expectations
The SLP papers in this course will be evaluated using the criteria as stated in the SLP rubric. The following is a review of the rubric criteria:
• Assignment-Driven Criteria: Does the paper cover all key elements of the assignment in a substantive way?
• Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate a college-level of analysis in conceptualizing the problem? Are viewpoints and assumptions critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper demonstrate that the student has read, understood, and can apply the background materials for the module?
• Scholarly Writing/Oral Communication: Does the student demonstrate college-level skill in scholarly written/oral communication to an appropriately specialized audience?
• Assignment Organization and Quality of References: Does the student demonstrate understanding of a consistent (e.g., APA) style of referencing by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Are appropriate sources from the background material included? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.