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ASSESSMENT ITEM 2
Item 2: Written Assignment

Weighting: 40%
Length: 2000 words including in-text citations, excluding reference list
This assignment is an analytical report relating to managing a team in an Organizational Behaviour context.
This is an individual assessment piece.
The purpose of this assessment is to help you gain a deep and critical understanding of organizational behaviour theory, processes, and their practical implications. It will also allow you to extend your skills in independent research, critical thinking and academic writing.
The task requires you to:
i. Identify an organizational team behaviour problem where you work or have previously worked and write a paragraph consisting of 4-5 sentences to explain the context, the problem to be addressed, and the outcomes that have occurred to-date as a result of the problem.
ii. Choose three specific areas to focus on; one from each category within the Team Effectiveness Model (see model below) i.e., one area from Context, one from Composition and one from Process to address the problem.
iii. Search and understand the academic literature for relevant concepts and empirical findings.
iv. Write a report that provides an in-depth analysis of managing a team focusing on the specific areas you have chosen (at ii.) and using relevant academic literature (identified at iii.).
v. Provide three clear recommendations (one for each of the three specific areas you chose at ii.) on policies and practices to manage the team and that address the problem.
These recommendations need to be clearly derived from the in-depth analysis (identified in iv) and supported by references.
vi. Include a minimum of EIGHT (8) scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles published in the last 10 years as references. In-text references are required to support all
the arguments presented throughout the report and must be referenced in the reference list. You may cite the textbook and include articles dated prior to the last 10 years, but this does not count towards the minimum eight scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article references. Do not use other books or textbooks as references. Also, do not use website materials (including dictionaries, encyclopaedias, business magazines available online, and blog posts) as these are not scholarly, peer reviewed sources and should be avoided in academic writing.
Full information about the written assignment task and marking criteria will be made available in the Assessment 2 Written Assignment folder under the Assessment tab on the unit website.

Go to the Shell Scenarios webpage. https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-energy-future/scenarios.html

Once you have navigated to the site, watch the “Shell New Lens Scenarios” video (1:38) found on that page. (If you have trouble locating the video, it can also be found on YouTube.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwzMhDFP2M&feature=player_embedded

After watching the video, read the two scenarios, Mountains and Oceans, as well as pp. 22–24 in your textbook. (Mountains and Oceans is a PDF file found on the Shell Scenarios webpage.)
https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-energy-future/scenarios/new-lenses-on-the-future/_jcr_content/par/relatedtopics.stream/1519787235340/77705819dcc8c77394d9540947e811b8c35bda83/scenarios-newdoc-english.pdf

Then, in your initial post, consider the following:

• Which of these scenarios do you think is most likely to occur? Defend your choice by analyzing it in the context of the deep historical forces outlined in the textbook.
• How does Shell utilize business teams in this process?
• What advice would you give Shell to prepare for its future to succeed in the face of likely governmental impacts?

Dear writer – Please use headings throughout the paper and answer each question professionally and exemplary.  The below text is required also you can use citations from different sources. All sources must be APA format.

 

Writing Article Critiques

In this course, you will be expected to write article critiques as part of discussion activities. Use these guidelines to write a critique of a selected article.

• Basic Elements
• Outline for Initial Discussion Post

A written critique includes a minimum of four basic elements:

• Identification of the material read (or reviewed).
• An abstract of the major ideas.
• An analysis of the content.
• Implications for the particular course, study or field of interest.

The first “things” to look for in an identified reading are the major ideas and contentions of the author. Try to determine the author’s justification for the contentions. Review the supporting data presented. Examine the logic supporting the author’s conclusions. Seek out similarities and differences between what is being propounded by the author and those held by other writers in the field.

In summary, what is the “gist” of contents of the review? Can it be stated in a few paragraphs? What does it mean? What are the implications?

Access the Outline for Initial Discussion Post section to continue.

• Outline for Initial Discussion Post

Your initial discussion post should conform to this outline:

• Bibliographical Detail
  • Author
  • Title
  • Source
  • Date
• Abstract of Major Ideas – Synthesis of the big ideas of the article reviewed.
• Critical Evaluation of Major Ideas
  • Substantiation of the idea by good logic.
  • Adequacy of supporting arguments and reasoning.
  • Degree to which author’s point of view agrees with your own.
• Implications – What is the meaning of the author’s ideas regarding what needs to be done in the
  area of interest, i.e., aviation/aerospace, etc.

Post & Discuss

Post your four paragraph (maximum) article critique, include your article as an attachment (or a link to the article), and then address the following:

• Do you believe the results? Why or why not?
• State the reported confidence interval(s) estimate in two ways:
  • the upper and lower limits
  • the sample proportion ± the error term
    (don’t forget to include the confidence level)
• State the meaning of the confidence interval(s).
• Can a reported mean of your article data be treated as a value from a population having a normal distribution? Why or why not?

Overview (MUST READ)

The final project for this course is the creation of an impact of governmental action on a business paper.

Governments at all levels—federal, state, and municipal—exert a significant influence on business. The impacts of these influences may be negative, such as the imposition of costly regulations, or they may be positive, such as the provision of financial incentives for the creation of new jobs. Both negative and positive governmental actions present challenges for businesses: the impact of the action on the business’s “bottom line,” how public opinion will be influenced by the business’s response to a particular action, and the ethical issues associated with each response, for example.

For this assessment, you will select a business that has faced, or is facing, governmental action and analyze the impact of this action on the business. In this company, your role is vice president of governmental affairs. Ideally, the business that you select will be the same one discussed in the business plan you created for Marketing and Strategy (See attached Business Plan that was created).

Again: Prompt: Your macroeconomic evaluation should answer the following prompt: Select a business that has faced, or is facing, governmental action, and analyze the impact of this action on the business. Ideally, the business that you select will be the same one discussed in the business plan you created for Marketing and Strategy (see attached business plan).

Topic examples:

• The decision of LG Corporation to construct a new corporate headquarters on the Hudson River in New Jersey, in the face of environmental concerns
• The decision of Tesla Motors, Inc. to choose among competing incentive packages from local governments for the construction of the company’s new Gigafactory
• The threat of Amazon.com to move its drone research development activities out of the United States unless the Federal Aviation Administration adopts a more favorable regulatory stance
• The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision to issue numerous citations to Ashley Furniture
• McDonald’s Corporation and the decision by Seattle, Washington to increase the minimum wage in that city

 

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

1. Overview: In your role as vice president of governmental affairs, your boss, the business’s CEO, is considering retaining an outside consulting firm to assist the company with a government issue that it is facing. Jack Harris is the president of that firm, which is called Crisis Consulting. Jack has told your boss that he will not know if he can help until he learns more information about your company and the issue it faces. Your CEO has asked you to prepare a memo that will provide a detailed overview of your company as well as the government action that is it facing. Address the following:
2. Business Profile: Provide a brief profile of the business and the industry it occupies, including the business’s market share and competitors, as well as opportunities and threats facing the business and industry outside of the particular governmental action now facing the business.
3. Governmental Action: Analyze the potential governmental action or political challenge that will affect the business in this particular situation.
4. Organization and Teams: Describe the organization of the company, including divisions and project teams, and the manner in which the company has used these teams to respond to government regulations in the past.
5. Stakeholders: Describe the company’s internal and external stakeholders. In your description, include the actions taken by the stakeholders to date to influence the political process and advocate for the business’s interests.
6. Current Environment: Describe the current business environment, both financial and otherwise, including the initial reaction of the company to the situation and the initial position taken by political actors and other stakeholders.
7. Analysis: After submitting your overview, your boss is having second thoughts about bringing Jack Harris and his firm, Crisis Consulting, on board. Before he makes his final decision he has asked you to provide him with a thorough analysis of the situation faced by your business. He asks you to prepare a memorandum to him (the CEO) analyzing the situation that your business faces as well as the resources that are available to it. Address the following:
8. Business Environment: Based on your analysis of the governmental action or political challenge, what will be the impact of the governmental action or political challenge on the business’s financial situation and operations? Does the action represent an opportunity or a threat?
9. Sustainability: Based on your analysis of the governmental action or political challenge, how will the governmental action or political challenge impact the sustainability of the business?
10. Internal Resources: Evaluate the internal resources of the company, including the business project teams that are available to respond to the opportunity or threat. In other words, is the business adequately organized to address the opportunity or threat?
11. Communication: How has information about the situation been communicated to various stakeholders? For example, have any public hearings been held? Have the radio, newspapers, and/or social media been used?
12. Company Image: Assess how the situation has affected the company’s public image. Has the impact been primarily positive or negative? If the impact has been primarily negative, what are the positive aspects in addition to the negative aspects? If the impact has been primarily positive, what are the negative aspects in addition to the positive aspects?
13. Response: What are the potential courses of action to respond to the situation in the current macroeconomic and business environment? In other words, what is the range of options for the business in this situation
14. Impact: How will these courses of action impact the business? Make sure to consider both short- and long-term impacts, including operational, financial, and ethical implications.
15. External Resources: Evaluate the roles and functions of third parties or external resources in the situation. Consider questions such as these in your response: How will lobbyists be involved in the situation? Will there be public affairs professionals who will argue on behalf of the government or the business?

III. Recommendations: After submitting your analysis memorandum, your CEO has decided that your business needs the additional resources that Jack Harris and his firm Crisis Consulting can provide. Time is of the essence, and so Jack has called a meeting of the team that will work on this project next week. While Jack is familiar with your business, due to your overview, the rest of his team is not. Your CEO has asked you to provide a memorandum to Jack that he can distribute to his team that will be assisting your business. Do not assume that the team knows anything about your business or the government action it faces. In addition, the CEO has asked you to include your recommendations for addressing the situation the business is facing.

1. Business Project Teams: Based on your evaluation of the internal resources that are available to the company, how can business project teams be efficiently engaged to obtain the most favorable results for the company?
2. Communication: Based on your assessment of the business’s public image, recommend communication approaches or strategies designed to mitigate the impact of negative information about the business.
3. Solution: Based on the courses of action and their impacts that you previously described, determine an effective solution for the business in the situation it is facing. How does the solution address the governmental action(s) or political challenge(s) faced by the business?
4. Political Influence: Based on your evaluation of external resources, how should the company utilize outside resources and approaches to advocate for the business and influence the political process?

 

Using the Assessment tools we have discussed in this Module and research you have done independently; provide a complete assessment of the company you are currently working for. If you were the CEO what would you change and why? Please provide your recommendation for change and support your proposal with independent research and critical analysis. Please provide a “Before” and “After” Organizational charts showing the current management structure and how you propose to change it and why.

If you are not working at this time – use a past employer. If you work for a multi-national Company use the business unit you are working for to provide this assessment.

Your Final Assessment paper should be 4,500 words (+ or – 10%).

Pedagogical aim and expectations:
THE FINAL ASSESSMENT ACCOUNTS FOR 100% OF YOUR CLASS GRADE! The examiner will look for (1) evidence of external research (2) learning from the current module (3) critical thinking to support your analysis and recommendations. A Harvard style bibliography is required.

Since the Final Assessment question and dates are visible one the first week of this module, please make sure you are prepared in advance to submit on time.