Written Case #2 THE TEAM MEMBER FROM HELL (Part A) – Mike’s Perspective Let me tell you about my teammate from hell. Someone with no motivation to succeed is the worst kind of member to have in a group because it is nearly impossible to motivate him to do the work and perform it well. It was apparent from the beginning John had no motivation. After our group was already formed by the teacher, a late comer came to class and the teacher assigned him to our group. His name was John. Already I was a little weary, the students who come to class a couple of days after it begins are the slackers, they were either skipping the first days or they didn't have their schedule together. At our first meeting my expectations were met. I found out John is a member of a fraternity and he did nothing but talk about his social life. I must say though, John was entertaining. He could make us laugh, mainly because he didn't seem to know what he was talking about. Unfortunately, John could also be loud and obnoxious and often his jokes were simply not funny. He just did not understand the difference between social hour and work life. Although John plans on working in his family's business when he graduates, he was working 2030 hours a week for spending money and to help pay tuition. I don't think he wanted to be in school and might have dropped out if it weren't for all his friends. John seemed like someone you would always have to push a little harder to get anything done. He made no attempt to discuss anything about the project or even discuss his life around academics. It was only about partying. We discussed what we would prepare for our next meeting. John did not volunteer his services for any of the tasks and when we assigned him one he seemed very annoyed and unsatisfied. At the next meeting John showed up late and was unprepared. I was disappointed. It wasn't the end of the world but I couldn't help but look ahead at the complex project we were to complete. If 2 this is the attitude and work ethic he brings to the table at the second meeting, how are we ever going to get a solid project completed? I have a dream to make something of myself when I graduate so I am concerned with my grades and don't want to be dragged down by someone who doesn't care. I would almost rather do things on my own. We decided that the workload would be distributed evenly among all members of the group. Each member of the group chose a certain activity to fulfill. The workload was evenly distributed and the members of the group all began to work towards completing their selected work. Things seemed to be going well until another group member and I realized that John was not completing his required work. He had an attitude about school that was not very positive and was not doing well in the class. We tried to motivate him by explaining that if we successfully completed the project he would successfully complete the course. This seemed to work initially but we soon learned he was still not completing the work. We discussed the situation and offered to help him if he was having difficulties. Again this worked temporarily but he fell back into the same pattern. It wasn't as though the group didn't make an effort to get him involved. Two of us kept reminding him to do his part of the project. He'd smile and give a little chuckle. We also sent numerous emails to him practically begging him to attend the meetings so that we could have his input, as well as save his grade. He never responded to the messages. At the meetings he did show up to I confronted him and asked if he would make more of a consistent effort to attend group meetings. He was really laid back and would always just tell us that he was busy and would do what he could. Eventually one of the members blew up at him. She told him that he was being disrespectful and that if he didn't want to do anything that he shouldn't show up. After that the only thing he changed was that he came to meetings but was quiet and still did almost no work. He just walked in, sat there while we did work and then took credit for work that he did not do. As time went on we noticed John was trying to make small attempts to slowly work his way back into the group. I think he began to notice what a good time we were having working together to complete the project. As he became more vocal and offered some opinions, we really didn't want to listen to what he had to say. We were far along with the project and didn't need his input at 3 this time. Also, we no longer trusted him and did not feel that we could rely on him. I didn't take anything he said seriously and when he offered to do something I didn't expect him to do it. He began to complain and make sarcastic responses such as "oh I guess nobody hears me." As the project deadline grew near, we agreed that we must meet early in the week and then at the end of the week and then over the weekend one final time. However, after thinking about the current plans just made, John realized his fraternity's semi-formal was that same weekend and he claimed there was no time over the weekend that he could work on the project. This statement got me thinking. Does he expect the rest of us to finish the project for him? Does he really have the nerve to change our plans just so he can get drunk all weekend? What are his priorities, school or partying? Suddenly, after this occurred I felt tremendous pressure. Not only do I and my other teammates have to orchestrate everything to finish the project, but we are the only ones who care about the quality of our work too. We could have talked to him again about his performance but we never did. We just wanted to get the work done and go home as soon as we could. I finally called our Professor and asked her if we could remove John from our group. She wants to meet with all of us on Tuesday. THE TEAM MEMBER FROM HELL (Part B) John’s Perspective Let me tell you about a team member from hell. I was in a group with Mike, who likes to have things done his way without help from anyone, which I knew was going to be a problem. The group assignment consisted of answering fifty multiple choice questions that covered what we had learned throughout the semester. At our first group meeting Mike didn't want to waste time getting to know the members of the group. Not only did he not allow himself to get to know these people, he didn't allow the remaining members to get to know each other because it would be a waste of time. Instead of "wasting time going through every problem together as a group," as he put it, he delegated certain questions to each member. He decided that each member would do his or her assigned part and we would all meet a half hour before the next 4 class to exchange answers. He decided that, as a group, we could discuss any problems we had with particular questions in that allotted time. Mike did not want to hear any rationale about how this plan could go terribly wrong. His stubbornness made it impossible to get any other ideas through. My complaints went ignored and he took his "leader" role, which felt more like a dictatorship. He had to be in control; whatever I said was wrong and what he said was right. He would not listen. When I said something, he would not even acknowledge me. I felt many of his ideas were bad but I didn't say anything because I did not want to start an argument. Although he wanted things to be done his way, he didn't want to spend a lot of time doing them. He was not organized either. Instead of finishing one job first, he would jump all around and have more than one project going. This made the group more stressful. I hated attending the meetings. I could tell others felt the same way. At one point I stopped going to the meetings, but my group members begged me to attend. Our Professor knows we are having problems and has asked to meet with all of us on Tuesday. Assignment In the meeting with the Professor on Tuesday, the group finds out that the Professors have worked it out so that all groups in the class will be working together in the same teams next semester as well. This is so that the teams have to address their problems rather than ignore them. The Professor offered to have a former student of hers work with Mike and John’s team as a consultant – to help them work through their problems. Everyone in the group agreed that this would be a great idea. You are the former student who will be consulting with this team. What will you do? Possible theories to apply: Personality theories; attribution theory (for example, the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias); perception and the strategies your book lists for reducing perceptual biases; all of the motivation theories we covered (how might the group work to motivate John); theories or ideas about group dynamics and team effectiveness such as social loafing, facilitation, stages of group development, and what it says about setting up a team for success (process losses – and when there is a process loss, what should be examined). ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac ADMN 575 – Behavior in Organizations - Spring 2019 ASSIGNMENT GUIDE Professor: Office: Office Hours: Phone: Email: Admin Assistant: Pascal Orliac Room 270X Paul College Tuesday 9:30-11; Thursday 12:30 -2 Cell: (603)-781-4947 pascal.orliac@unh.edu Lesley Gallagher 603-862-3381 Room 246 Paul College. lesley.gallagher@unh.edu INTRODUCTION The assignment directions and grading keys are provided to help you better understand which type of work is expected from you, what tools are expected to be used and the format and structure that best allow you to present your written work. This is also designed to help you improve your ability to prioritize and concisely communicate complex analyses. This is one of the skills that effective managers need to master. Please keep in mind that providing detailed directions does not mean that these assignments will be easy. You will still need to work hard to identify the core problems in the case or in the situations described, to apply the concepts appropriately and the tools effectively when given incomplete or ambiguous information, and to determine the most effective solutions to the problems. PAPERS DO’s and DON’Ts The first and foremost piece of advice that you need to remember is: FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. Whether in writing –as in this guide or in the rubrics associated with each assignment– or during class time, I will provide instructions specific to your upcoming assignment. While I don’t want you to refrain from being creative or taking initiatives, each of these assignments have specific learning objectives that can only be achieved through the appropriate use of the tools and concepts available to you. Ideas Show me you understand the concepts, theories and processes and how to apply them to a particular problem or situation that is presented to you. Go deep and provide meaningful comments. Homework Present facts and evidence gathered in the case or in your readings, do your research not limited to just the textbook, and 1 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac give meaningful examples (whether real or fictional) to support your analysis and ideas. Voice / Tone Do not ramble on superficial statements, eliminate redundant sentences, and try to focus on one idea per paragraph. Avoid superlatives, adverbs or adjectives that do not add value. Ban “obvious”, “evident” and the likes from your vocabulary. There is rarely anything obvious in conceptual discussions. Choose your words and watch your tone as you would as a manager speaking to a peer, a boss or a team member in a business setting. Involve yourself in your paper. Use your personal experience to give life and energy to your paper. Professional presentation To meet the requirements of a writing intensive course your text has to be mostly error-free and presented according to business English writing conventions. Write for the reader! To achieve this use sectioning, headers, page #, titles, subtitles, numbering, bullet points, footnotes, etc. Research, References and Citations Research is an important aspect of the learning process: don’t pull out bold statements off your hat that have no grounding in research. I encourage you to make abundant use of it, but cite your sources! (see also Academic Honesty section in Syllabus). Use of Teaching notes or instructor manuals is strictly forbidden. Posts from former students sharing their submissions or notes are not valid sources (e.g. Coursehero.com), neither are Dictionaries. Avoid long citations that can be viewed as “fillers” and tend to dilute your own voice. A good rule of thumb for the length of a citation is under 2 lines. Writing Process “A” grade writers systematically follow the proven writing process: Pre-writing, Drafting, Revising, Editing and Publishing. Papers who receive some form of feedback – and are revised accordingly – obtain higher grades on average than those not reviewed. Reviewers should provide feedback on concepts, structure, development and clarity. I will organize a peer review session for paper 1, and paper #2 will be submitted in 2 drafts including a review/feedback from a team of student graders. I also encourage you to get a feedback from the UNH Writing Center. File submission All files will have to be submitted electronically in canvas. Canvas reviewing To facilitate my review of your work I will use color highlights and in-text comments: yellow for potential weakness, green for concepts and positive feedback, blue for sources. 2 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac REFLECTION PAPER #1 – Individual Awareness and implications for Organizational Behavior Purpose Improve your self-awareness through a deep reflection drawing in your recent past to understand triggers and reactions, emotions and behaviors, personality and motivation, strengths and weaknesses. Recognize and analyze the appropriate concepts associated with these personal characteristics. Purpose and components of this Assignment Reflecting on your personal experience with organizations (e.g., your college, clubs, sports teams, part-time jobs, internships, etc.), describe your strengths, weaknesses, learning style, values, personality characteristics, motivation needs, etc. (refer to “Managing Oneself” by Peter Drucker and Textbook).  Identify a specific point in time: for example when you made an important decision (e.g. to join or leave an organization or a team), or when you were highly satisfied or unsatisfied, or when you came to a realization about yourself, etc.  Reflect on the “whys” as it relates to who you are as a person and your tendencies and preferences.  Make at least 3 connections drawing on the personality traits, emotional intelligence, learning styles, motivational drives, and other individual OB concepts when reflecting and writing this paper. Advice: Start from who you are, then connect with relevant concepts or principles.  Provide empirical evidence for this description (specific examples).  Include what you have learned about yourself and future career implications.  Use at least 3 references from at least 3 different sources (e.g. textbook, Drucker article and 1 other source) in supporting your ideas to ensure that your connections are relevant and coherent. Format The paper should contain 1,200 – 1,600 words, 12 point font, double line spacing. Using a word count makes it easier to clearly structure the paper without the constraint of a page count. You will add a cover page showing your name and the name of your paper, and a reference page listing all sources cited in the paper. Cover and reference pages do not count against the word count. 3 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Grading key 4 Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac Ideas, context, concepts and links between them Concepts and supporting empirical evidence Introduction and conclusion Research and methods Organization, structure, flow Mechanics, conventions, presentation 35 pts 20 15 10 10 10 Total 100 points ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac CASE STUDY PAPER #2 – The “Team member from Hell” Paper Purpose of this Assignment To show that you can use course theory and concepts to identify causes of so called “people” problems in organizations and to come up with practical solutions to fix the situation discussed in the case “The Team Member from Hell.” Format The paper should contain 750 words, 12-point font, double line spacing. You will add a cover page showing your name and the name of your paper, and a reference page listing all sources cited in the paper. Cover and reference pages do not count against the word count. Structure    Section 1. A clear problem statement. This should be one sentence and is the foundation for the rest of the analysis. e.g., “The problem facing this team is ____”. Do not list the causes here, rather the effect of these causes: the problem. Section 2. Identification of the cause(s). It is your job to convince me that you have identified the true causes of the problem faced in the case by applying and citing theory and content from the course and quotes and examples from the case. Identify no more than 3 causes. For each concept you must: o Define the theory/concept in a detailed enough way that it is clear you understand its distinctions and why it applies here. o Persuade me that it fits this situation and helps you understand a true cause of the problem in the case. o Support your arguments with research-based citations or paraphrases coming from external sources (the case is not considered a source). Section 3. Solutions o Present two possible solutions to the problem – which you derived from the theory and concepts you use to identify the causes of the problem. Make certain that there is a clear connection between the causes of the problem that you have identified (section 2), and these potential solutions. o Recommend one BEST solution (selected from the two you presented). Make sure this solution is feasible and specific. Discuss why you selected this solution, the positives and negatives about this solution, what will be required to implement it, and your desired outcome. o Explain how you would practically implement it as the consultant hired by the professor. 5 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Grading key Spring 2019 Argument Problem statement 2 possible solutions Best solution Evidence 3 causes, each worth 10 points Rhetoric Paragraphing Typos Grammar, punctuation, etc. Total Writing assessment 6 This assignment is shared between all sections of OB, and will be assessed using 2 drafts. This will allow you to receive a feedback on the quality and clarity of your writing, in addition to the assessment of the content from an OB standpoint. Pascal Orliac 15 pts 15 15 30 5 10 10 100 points ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac TEAM PROJECT – Analyze an organization through “OB lenses” Team Project Paper This paper should be a combination of the theories and concepts learned in OB and an application of those concepts to organizational life. Three to four specific OB concepts should be examined within this paper. This written project should summarize what you have learned from the organization in the light of the particular OB topics analyzed, what you have learned about OB, which improvements you would recommend to the organization, and what you have learned about working on a team. The paper should be error-free and should demonstrate your team’s ability to apply theoretical material covered during the course in each section of the paper. Purpose of this assignment 1. Convince me that you have researched and understood the OB concepts you are discussing 2. Observe and analyze a real-life application of these concepts in an organization of your choice. 3. Learn how to conduct an interview to research your topics 4. Apply critical thinking to your observations using what you’ve learned about OB and offer meaningful recommendations. Format The paper itself should be 3,800 – 5,000 words, 1 inch margins, 12 point font, double line spacing. You will be penalized for being outside of these limits. The limit does not include cover and reference pages, executive summary, interview transcript or summary and appendices, which you are free to use to provide charts, figures, or other background material not necessary in the main body of your analysis. However, appendices that are not directly referenced in the main text will not be read. Executive Summary Concision is one of the most difficult exercise in communication. You are required to start your paper with a 1-page executive summary that should allow the reader to become familiar with your organization, topics, findings and recommendations. Introduction Define the purpose of your paper and what you’re going to discuss. This is where you introduce your 3 or 4 OB concepts and a preview of the structure of your paper. Core The 3 or 4 chosen OB concepts will be analyzed and discussed here in the particular context chosen in your organization. Make this discussion meaningful by analyzing your observations through the Organizational Behavior lens, meaning unpacking behaviors of people or groups of people within the organization. Involve yourselves in this paper so that you’re giving it a spin and a tone that is specific to your 7 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac thesis about the subject. 1. Explain the concept (cite your sources). 2. Explain the context in which the concept is applied and observed. 3. Discuss concept and application in the context using critical thinking and thorough research. Use at least 3 different sources in addition to the textbook for each concept. 4. Tell me what you’ve learned about the organization in the light of that OB concept. 5. Provide at least 1 actionable recommendation to the organization for alternative processes or improvements to existing processes supporting the particular application of each of the OB concepts studied (minimum 1 recommendation per concept). Insider Interview A key component of your research is the interview with a person (preferably a manager or executive) working or having recently worked in the organization. A transcript –or a summary– of the interview will need to be included as an appendix to the paper. Team experience What you’ve learned about working on a team and as a team, issues you encountered and how you addressed them, which course goals your team helped you achieve, etc. Restate your thesis, wrap up the main points discussed and purpose of your paper. The final paragraph may also open new questions for future discussion on these concepts. Conclusion Grading key See rubric for detail 8 Ideas, quality of thoughts, link with concepts, understanding of concepts, creativity Executive Summary Recommendations Interview Research, Methods Introduction and conclusion Team experience Organization and Flow Mechanics, conventions and professional presentation 50 pts Total 150 points 20 15 15 10 10 10 10 10 ADMN 575 – Assignment Guide Oral team presentation       Spring 2019 Pascal Orliac Must be a maximum of 20 minutes and include your recommendations. All members of the team must be part of the action – all must have a role, even if small. The first slide should have the title of your presentation, your name and the date of your presentation. The last slide should include the reference to your sources cited Avoid reading your presentation from your notes or from PPT slides – try to bring yourself to the action. Engage your audience through questions, assignments, or discussions. Participation counts that day as well! Your team will be responsible for managing your time. Presentations will be arranged by random draw in class. You should feel free to distribute any printed material that will assist with the presentation. Your team should assume you are presenting to the management of the firm, along with some board members who do not know about the problem you are analyzing. Dress accordingly! Each team will be assigned to evaluate the other teams' presentations. Giving feedback will be a large part of your job after graduating. This feedback will inform my own assessment of each team’s performance. Grading key Team Project Evaluation Context given for audience to understand the topic Integration of course concepts Engaging verbal style and delivery Engagement of team and team members Strong design and structure of presentation Good use of data, visuals, media, text Interaction with audience 10 15 10 10 10 10 10 Total 75 points Each member of your team will initially receive the same grade. I do reserve the right to adjust up or down any individual project grade based upon your peer evaluation and my own appreciation of your contribution to the project and its presentation. 9