MGMT 645 Project Guidelines Assignment Overview This course project is designed to give you real life practical experience while examining some of the key elements of organizational behavior as they apply to a specific organization. Additionally, the project offers you the opportunity to develop and create your own recommendations for the organization. Each week, you will complete a weekly project (parts A - E) and, in week 7, you will synthesize all of this into a final project that will be your recommendations. For the weekly projects, you will be conducting research and presenting findings related to the organization that you selected. For the final project, you will develop a formal recommendations paper based on your research. Consider the weekly projects as a way to examine the current state of the organization. Consider the final project as a way for you to provide recommendations to better the organization. Timeline and Point Allocation See the course calendar for specific due date: · Topic Selection: Week 1 (30 points) · Part A: Week 2 (50 Points) · Part B: Week 3 (50 points) · Part C: Week 4 (50 points) · Part D: Week 5 (50 points) · Part E: Week 6 (50 points) · Project Recommendations: Week 7 (100 points) Topic Selection: One of the most critical steps in this class is selecting an organization. You will use this topic for each weekly project and the Project Recommendations. An organization must be submitted for approval before you can proceed to the next elements of the assignment. Failure to submit your topic selection by the due date will preclude you from completing the upcoming project assignments. When selecting an organization for purposes of these assignments, it’s best to select a mid-size organization where you will be able to access the information needed to complete these assignments. Selecting an organization that is too large, like Wal-Mart or GE, will be too significant a scope for these assignments. Selecting a small organization of under 20 employees won’t provide the needed dynamic to complete these assignments. When considering what organization to select, you may select an organization where you work or have worked. You might also select an organization that is of interest to you but it should be an organization where you have access to resources to complete the required assignments. There are many scholarly sources available within the Davenport University Library. Additionally, other great resources could be leaders within the organization who you can interview. One word of caution, it’s important to maintain objectivity. This will be demonstrated by your scholarly research. For the Project Topic, you will submit a 2 page (body) APA formatted paper that will include the following: · Name of organization · Reason why you selected this organization · Description of organization that will include type of industry, number of employees, basic history, any other pertinent informa ...

1. MGMT 645
Project Guidelines
Assignment Overview
This course project is designed to give you real life practical
experience while examining some of the key elements of
organizational behavior as they apply to a specific organization.
Additionally, the project offers you the opportunity to develop
and create your own recommendations for the organization.
Each week, you will complete a weekly project (parts A - E)
and, in week 7, you will synthesize all of this into a final
project that will be your recommendations. For the weekly
projects, you will be conducting research and presenting
findings related to the organization that you selected. For the
final project, you will develop a formal recommendations paper
based on your research. Consider the weekly projects as a way
to examine the current state of the organization. Consider the
final project as a way for you to provide recommendations to
better the organization.
Timeline and Point Allocation
See the course calendar for specific due date:
· Topic Selection: Week 1 (30 points)
· Part A: Week 2 (50 Points)
· Part B: Week 3 (50 points)
· Part C: Week 4 (50 points)
· Part D: Week 5 (50 points)
· Part E: Week 6 (50 points)
· Project Recommendations: Week 7 (100 points)
Topic Selection:
One of the most critical steps in this class is selecting an

2. organization. You will use this topic for each weekly project
and the Project Recommendations. An organization must be
submitted for approval before you can proceed to the next
elements of the assignment. Failure to submit your topic
selection by the due date will preclude you from completing the
upcoming project assignments. When selecting an organization
for purposes of these assignments, it’s best to select a mid-size
organization where you will be able to access the information
needed to complete these assignments. Selecting an
organization that is too large, like Wal-Mart or GE, will be too
significant a scope for these assignments. Selecting a small
organization of under 20 employees won’t provide the needed
dynamic to complete these assignments. When considering
what organization to select, you may select an organization
where you work or have worked. You might also select an
organization that is of interest to you but it should be an
organization where you have access to resources to complete the
required assignments. There are many scholarly sources
available within the Davenport University Library.
Additionally, other great resources could be leaders within the
organization who you can interview. One word of caution, it’s
important to maintain objectivity. This will be demonstrated by
your scholarly research.
For the Project Topic, you will submit a 2 page (body) APA
formatted paper that will include the following:
· Name of organization
· Reason why you selected this organization
· Description of organization that will include type of industry,
number of employees, basic history, any other pertinent
information as to why this is a great selection for your topic.
· A minimum of 3 specific APA formatted scholarly resources
that you plan to use in your upcoming research.
The topic must be approved by faculty before you can proceed.
General Guidelines for Parts A-E and Project Recommendations

3. · Projects must be completed using APA standards with the
inclusion of:
· Title page
· Abstract
· Introduction
· Body (with correct use of headings and sub-headings)
· Conclusion
· Reference Page
· Appendices (as needed)
· Projects must be completed in third person.
· Parts A – E as well as the Project Recommendations do get
submitted to Turnitin as a routine.
· These assignments require that you conduct and assess
scholarly research. A good place to start your research is the
online databases accessible through the Davenport University
Online Library. [Hint: If you are unsure how to use the
databases ask for help by clicking on the Ask A Librarian link].
You can also use professional websites and magazines, quality
newspapers and journals. Yet another source would be
interviewing leaders within the organization. Note: References
like Wikipedia may be a good starting point but it is NOT
considered academically credible because the information can
be edited by lay people who may not input accurate and
validated information. Parts A - E need to have a minimum of
4 scholarly sources outside of our class resources. With each
week, you should be expanding your reference list rather than
using the same references repeatedly. The Project
Recommendations needs to have a minimum of 10 scholarly
sources outside of our class resources.
· It is imperative that you tie your research and
recommendations to the course material. Be sure to link your
projects to the core concepts from the class.
· The body for each of the weekly projects will be 4 – 6 pages.
The body for the final project will be a minimum of 10 pages.
· The university’s policy on plagiarism and academic honesty

4. apply.
Part A: Reward and Performance Practices
Conduct and present research that evaluates the current reward
structure in your selected organization. Be sure to examine
both monetary and non-monetary rewards. Evaluate the
effectiveness of these rewards on performance. Additionally,
assess how this reward system motivates (or fails to motivate)
employees (Note: this is not where you will make
recommendations – that will come in the final project).
Part B: Decision-Making
Conduct and present research that evaluates the decision making
process within the organization. Be sure to provide specific
examples of complex decisions that have been made. Discuss
and describe who is involved in the decision-making and who is
impacted by the decision-making. Evaluate the effectiveness of
this process, without making recommendations.
Part C: Conflict
Conduct and present research that evaluates how conflict
manifests itself within the organization. Discuss both positive
and negative conflict. Be sure to provide specific examples.
Examine what stressors cause conflict and what approaches are
used to manage conflict
Part D: Leadership and Organizational Structure
Conduct and present research that evaluates the leadership style
fostered in this organization. Provide examples of both its
effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Describe how leaders are (or
are not) nurtured and developed. Analyze how the
organizational structure also manifests itself within the
organization.
Part E: Organizational Culture and Change

5. Conduct and present research that evaluates the current culture
of the organization. Provide examples of how environmental
forces have impacted the organization. As a part of this,
identify how the organization accepts or embraces change as a
force.
Project Recommendations
For this final element, you will synthesize all of your research
and create recommendations to the organization’s leaders on
ways that the organization can adjust and improve in the
following areas:
· Reward and Performance Practices
· Decision-making
· Conflict
· Leadership and Organizational Structure
· Organizational Culture and Change
· You may include other recommendation sections as
appropriate for your organization.
Justify your research by including scholarly research that has
been conducted on comparable organizations. Be sure to
include both the pros and cons of your recommendations. As a
friendly reminder, this is a professional document and should be
completed in third person.
Grading Rubric
Exemplary Level
Meeting all requirements that include this criterion will earn a
maximum of 100 percent
Leadership: 10
Student provided realistic strategies to lead effectively, which
include but are not limited to: building teams, innovation,
ethics, integrity, vision, originality etc.

6. X/10
Mastery Level
Meeting all requirements that include these three criteria areas
will earn a maximum of 90 percent
Recommendations & Goals: 10
Problem Solving & Decision Making: 10
Measuring Outcomes: 10
Student provided relevant, feasible and high quality
recommendations and goals. Alternatives are provided and
concepts are supported.
Student applied a variety of quantitative and qualitative
techniques to make business decisions.
Student provided details to measure outcomes to provide the
best recommendation(s). Measurables are well-thought and
realistic.
X/10
X/10
X/10
Competency Level
Meeting the requirements of the four criteria areas will earn a
maximum of 60 percent
Content: 15
APA: 15
Mechanics: 15
Organization: 15
Student identifies key ideas, examines their interrelationships,
and incorporates quotations from sources logically, effectively,
and gracefully, paper length is met.
Student followed APA formatting guidelines with at least four
citations (in-text and reference list match) from peer-reviewed
journals.
Sentence structure, grammar, diction; correct use of

7. punctuation; minimal to no spelling errors; no run-on sentences
or comma splices. Paper contains an introduction, supporting
body, conclusion and reference page.
Ideas are arranged logically to support the purpose or argument.
They flow smoothly from one to another and are clearly linked
to each other.
The reader can follow the line of reasoning.
X/15
X/15
X/15
X/15
March 19, 2013 Page 2