ASSIGNMENT 1
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE REPORT: ISSUE AND SOLUTIONS Due Week 4, worth 150 points Leaders address issues and propose solutions. As a leader, you’ll need to stay on top of events that may facilitate or hinder productivity. You must create and implement solutions to address these issues. This assignment exposes you to complex modern organizational challenges. The solutions you devise should reflect your learning and research of organiza- tional and individual influences in the workplace.
PREPARATION 1. Select an organization Select an organization in which current events have adversely affected productivity, requiring management to resolve an issue related to: corporate culture, managing diversity, leading teamwork, and developing motivational strategies. The organization should be one with which you are familiar — where you work now or have worked previously (business, nonprofit, government, or military). You may also consider other organizations in the news, such as Macy’s for the retail industry, United for the airline industry, Wells Fargo for the banking industry, etc. The focus is on finding solutions, but you should be somewhat familiar with the organization or industry.
2. Plan your research Use research from the course textbook, company website, business websites (CNBC, Bloomberg, etc.), resources from the Strayer Library, or outside resources to develop solutions to the following questions as they relate to corporate culture, managing diversity, leading teamwork, and developing motivational strategies to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Your recommendations must be fully articulated and supported with appropriate detail and sources. Note: Wikipedia and web-based blogs do not qualify as credible resources.
INSTRUCTIONS Imagine yourself as the task force committee leader at this organization. You have been tasked with analyzing hindrances to organizational efficiency. You must propose strategic solutions.
Create a full report in which you do the following:
1. Describe the Organization and the Issue to Resolve Provide a brief description of the organization you selected. Present the organizational issue that adversely affected productivity and that you, the task force leader, will review and resolve. 2. Analyze Current Corporate Culture How has the current corporate culture facilitated the development of the current issue? Research the organization, dig into the culture, and analyze how it contributed to this issue. Hint: Review the mission and vision statements as well as the corporate website. 3. Identify Areas of Weakness What are the organization’s areas of weakness? Using your research on organizational behavior approaches to corporate culture, diversity, teamwork, and motivational strategies, identify areas of weakness. 4. Propose Solutions What organizational practices would you modify? What solutions should your task force recommend to management? As the leader of the task force, identify the suggestions you would present to the organization’s leadership with regard to modifying current organizational practices to resolve the issue.
5. Prepare an Executive Summary Summarize your recommendations and research findings in a one-page executive summary that you will present to the CEO in an upcoming executive meeting. Note: An executive summary is a condensed version of your full report. It should summarize briefly all the main points in concise paragraphs. It should be written clearly and should use language appropriate for the audience.
PROFESSIONAL AND APA FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS Your assignment must follow these general APA formatting requirements:
Be typed (five to seven pages recommended, excluding cover and reference pages), double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12) with one-inch margins on all sides Include a References List Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date Include in-text citations following APA style, using attributive tags and signal verbs Cite at least two credible sources
POINTS: 150
Criteria
1. Describe the Organization and the Issue to Resolve
Weight: 20%
Does not describe the organization or provide details about the company. The issue and its impact on the company are not provided.
Partially describes the organization and provides some details about the company, but additional details would improve the description. The issue and its impact on the company are not clearly articulated.
Sufficiently describes the organization and provides details about the company. The issue is identified and the author sufficiently describes what he/she knows about it and its impact on the company.
Fully describes the organization by providing a relevant and robust but con- cise overview of the company (e.g. when they were estab- lished, what service(s) or products they provide, and other relevant information). Additionally, the author fully describes the issue he/she has identified; what he/she knows about it and how it has impacted the company.
Unacceptable Below 70% F
Fair 70-79% C
Proficient 80-89% B
Exemplary 90-100% A
ASSIGNMENT 1: TASK FORCE COMMITTEE REPORT: ISSUE AND SOLUTIONS
The culture is not described or the compa- ny is not differentiated completely from others. Poses unsup- ported con- nections or connections are not included.
Partially describes the company’s culture. Lacks details and/or multiple sourc- es are not utilized to provide a well-rounded perspective. Makes loose connections that were not supported by sources or that were not fully articulated
Satisfactorily describes the company culture by drawing on and synthesizing corporate information about the company. Makes logical and realistic connections that are supported by source material.
Completely describes the company’s culture by detailing how the company positions itself from internal and external perspectives. Draws strong, logical connec- tions about how the culture did or could have supported/facil- itated the chal- lenge. Makes direct connec- tions and sup- ports points with source material.
Does not identify areas of weakness or does not provide sup- porting source material
Partially identi- fies areas of weakness and makes loose connections between the weaknesses and supporting material.
Satisfactorily identifies areas of weakness and provides valid details supported by source material.
Completely identifies areas of weakness and provides strong details with logical connections and supporting source material.
2. Analyze Current Corporate Culture
Weight: 20%
3. Identify Areas of Weakness
Weight: 20%
Does not describe modifi- cations to organizational practices, or does not identi- fy solutions that would resolve the issue. No source material is provided.
Partially describes modifications to organization- al practices and solutions to resolve the issues. Lacks supporting details and source material
Satisfactorily describes modi- fications to organizational practices. Pro- vides solutions that make some connections with supporting source material to indicate how the solutions will resolve the issue
Completely describes modi- fications to organizational practices and provides solu- tions with strong connec- tions and sup- porting source material. Logi- cally details how the solu- tions will resolve issue.
Did not prepare a one-page executive summary.
Prepares a partial execu- tive summary. The issue and problem are not clearly stated and the main points are not summa- rized. Paragraphs are not short or concise. Lan- guage could be more appropri- ate for the audience.
Satisfactorily prepares an executive sum- mary. The issue and problem are stated and most of the main points are summarized. Paragraphs could be more concise. Language is appropriate for the audience.
Prepares an exemplary executive sum- mary. The issue and problem are clearly stated. All of the main points are summa- rized. Paragraphs are short and con- cise, providing the right amount of detail. Language is ideal for the audience.
4. Propose Solutions Weight: 20%
5. Prepare an Executive Summary
Weight: 10%
Writing does not meet mini- mum standards. Tone is not professional. Communication is wholly lack- ing in logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. Contains many spelling, mechanical, formatting, citation, and/or grammatical errors. References are not provided.
Writing is satisfactory. Professional tone is devel- oping. Shows moderate logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. May contain more than a few spelling, grammar, mechanical, formatting, or citation errors. Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references are of poor quality.
Writing could be improved, but meets accept- able standards. Tone is profes- sional. Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting. May contain few or no spelling, mechanical, and/or gram- matical errors. There may be minor format- ting or citation errors. Meets the number of required refer- ences; all refer- ences are high-quality choices
Writing is excel- lent. Tone is professional and sophisticat- ed. Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting. Contains no spelling, mechanical, or grammatical errors. Is free of formatting and citation errors.
Exceeds number of required refer- ences; all refer- ences are high-quality choices
6. Write Professionally Using Quality Resources Weight: 10%
