Discussion 1

“People in this organization don’t talk to one another anymore. Everything is e-mail, e-mail, e-mail. If you are mad at someone, you can just say it and then hide behind your computer.” With these words, Joe expressed his frustrations with Delta General’s operations. Charley echoed his concerns, responding, “I agree, but surely the managing director should be able to improve organizational communication without losing the advantages of e-mail.” As a consultant overhearing this conversation, how do you suggest the managing director respond to Charley’s challenge?

Discussion 2

Describe some of the side effects of organizational controls in a large mechanistically structured organization, such as the United States Postal Service. Identify at least one other large mechanistically structured organization that could have the same problems. Use and cite the course textbook in your initial post.

Assignment Week 5

Final Paper

The purpose of the final paper is to maximize the learning achieved in the course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the field of Organizational Behavior. The final paper should also focus on real life, real time application of topics covered in this course; the uses you have seen and the uses you can envision. Devote your attention to situations you have experienced and situations you would have approached differently if given the chance to make adjustments.

Focus of the Final Paper

Select a topic of interest in organizational behavior that you would like to explore with additional research (must use at least five references). Some suggested topics for your paper are:

• Personality
• Organizational Culture
• Stress
• Attitudes
• Motivation
• Attribution
• Performance Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Team building
• Leadership
• Decision Making Process
• Communication
• Organizational Goals

In your paper,

• Apply the research to your personal working environment, or an environment you have previously experienced.
• Describe how will you use the knowledge you have gained in this course to change the way you interact and do business in the future?

The Final Paper

• Must be six to eight double-spaced pages in length (not including Appendix, References, Exhibits, title and references pages), and formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.) resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper in bold font
    • Space should be between title and the rest of the information on the title page.
  • Student’s name
  • Name of institution (Ashford University)
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Due date
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least five scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.