Assignment 1
Organizational Theory
Purpose:
In the first assignment, students
are given a scenario in which the shipping manager who has worked for Recycled
Furnishings since the inception of the company is getting ready to
retire. The scenario serves to set the stage for students to demonstrate
how management theories have changed over time. For example, managing 30
years ago is different than managing in the 21st century.
Outcome Met by Completing This
Assignment:
- integrate management theories and principles into
management practices
Instructions:
In Part One of this case study
analysis, students are to use the facts from the case study to determine two
different organization theories that are demonstrated. For Part Two,
students will compare the 21st century manager to that of the
main character in the case study and the implications of change in being a 21st century
manager.
In selecting an organizational
theory that best describes the current shipping manager, students will use the
timeline to select a school of thought and a theory or theories of that time
frame. Students will need to research the theorist(s) and theories to
complete the assignment and answer the questions below. Students are
expected to be thorough in responding to Part One.
In Part Two, students are going to
take what they have learned in weeks 1 – 3 and compare the management skills of
the current shipping manager to that of you as the new shipping manager.
Step 1: Review “How to Analyze a Case Study” under Week 3 Content.
Step 2: Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that
is double-spaced, 12-point font. The final product will be between 4-5
pages in length excluding the title page and reference page.
Step 3: Review the grading rubric for the assignment.
Step 4: Use headings following this format:
- Title page with title, your name, the course, the
instructor’s name;
- Introduction (one paragraph that briefly describes the
situation and tells a reader the main points of the paper;
- Part One;
- Part Two.
Step 5: In writing a case study, the writing is in the third
person. What this means is that there are no words such as “I, me, my,
we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second
person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this
link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person
Step 6: In writing this assignment, students are expected to
support the reasoning using in-text citations and a reference list. If
any material is used from a source, it must be cited and referenced. A
reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text
citation and vice versa. View the sample APA paper under Week 1 content.
Step 7: In writing this assignment, students are expected to
paraphrase and not use direct quotes. Learn to paraphrase by reviewing
this link: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html
Step 8: In writing this assignment, students may use external
resources but the majority of resources will come from the course.
Step 9: Read critically and analyze the following scenario:
Part One
Scenario:
Recycled Furnishings is a division
of an international home furnishing company called Thor Enterprises.
Recycled Furnishings makes glass sofas for outdoor use from recycled bottles
and glass. The business has grown rapidly in the last thirty years and now that
it has become a division of Thor Enterprises, the company is going
international. The shipping manager for Recycled Furnishings, Robert, has
been in his job since the start of the company. Prior to coming to
Recycled Furnishings, Robert worked as a container manufacturing engineer at
Damco, a local shipping company and worked his way up to supervisor prior to
joining Recycled Furnishings. Robert, a baby boomer, quickly rose to supervisor
at Damco because of his ability to optimize the way tasks were performed and
his knack to implement processes so workers could be trained to perform their
specialized sequence of motion in one best way. He brought this
management style to Recycled Furnishing and helped to improve the methodology
of furniture assembly as well as the shipping processes.
A major shift in management occurred
in the late 1980’s and early 90’s that caused Robert to reconsider his
management approach. For example, advances in technology, the
organization joining a union, change in the value systems, organizational
design and globalization all affected the culture of Recycled
Furnishings. Robert was successful with this transformation and
contributed greatly to the company’s success.
In answering the following
questions, make sure that the facts of the scenario and the course readings
support the reasoning of the answers provided.
- Discuss the school of thought that best describes
Robert’s management style when he first joined Recycled Furnishings.
- Discuss the theorist under the identified school of
thought that best depicts Robert’s management style. What contribution did
this theorist make to management and why was his or her contribution
important to the field of management?
- Select and discuss the school of thought that best
describes the management style Robert used once the shift took place? Why
is this school of thought the best choice?
- Select and discuss one theorist who supports this
school of thought. Address the principles of the theory and how a manager
would do his job and interact with his staff. How does what the
theorist propose support the facts in the case study?
- Compare and contrast the current management thought
with Robert’s early thinking;
Part Two
Scenario:
Recently Robert announced his plans
to retire. You have been hired as his replacement and with the
international launch on the horizon you have big shoes to fill. You feel
you are more than capable of handling the shipping manager position and
characterize yourself as a 21st century manager.
- As a 21st century manager, compare the
way you will manage versus the way of Robert;
- What implications do the changes in management have for
the future of Thor?
- How will the new approach to the job likely change the
shipping division?
Step 10: Create the introductory paragraph. Within this
paragraph, provide a brief overview of the scenario. Then, provide a
thesis statement and tell the reader the main topics covered in the
paper. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper but
is typically written after writing the body of the paper (Questions students
responded to above). View this website to learn how to write an
introductory paragraph: http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html
Step 11: Respond to the questions in Part One and Part Two
following the format provided. Be clear and concise in the writing and
make sure the questions are comprehensively answered.
Step 12: Using the grading rubric as a comparison, read
through the paper to ensure all required elements are presented.
Step 13: Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical
issues, and third person writing.
- Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a first
measure;
- Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof
the paper;
- Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing
Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need
improvement.
No comments:
Post a Comment