BMGT464 full course (all assignments +activties)

All learning activities

Week 1

Learning Activity 1

You have been recently promoted to the position of plant manager in a large Mexican operation owned by your employer, a Fortune 500 company. After taking some time to assess the situation, you have determined that the implementation of Kaizen continuous improvement activities would substantially improve the quality and efficiency of the operation. Pioneered by Toyota and widely adopted around the world by numerous companies, this technique is based on having employees analyze their own working situation and area, identify problems, and suggest changes. It has been shown to be particularly effective and also results in increased employee satisfaction.

After several attempt to implement the techniques, you are becoming concerned that it is not being adopted as readily and enthusiastically as you have seen elsewhere. You begin to suspect some cultural issues and refer to Geert Hofstede’s web site for guidance:

http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

Using this resource and the material in your text, respond to the following questions:

1. What cultural issues do you think exist that might impede the implementation in this plant?

2. How would you address them in order to take advantage of the benefits of Kaizen?

Remember to make one initial post and to respond to two of your classmates.

(Instructor’s note: This is an actual scenario taken from the Instructor’s experience with a plant employing some 2,500 people, mostly women, in Mexico.

Learning Activity 2

You are a manager employed by a Fortune 500 company that has a reputation for highly ethical conduct and a highly regarded ethical code. You have recently been transferred to your company’s operations in Tianjin, China. While attending a meeting with a key supplier, you are dismayed that the senior representative of the supplier has brought a gift, an obviously expensive jade statue, to commemorate the signing of a new contract. You are aware that gift giving is more the norm in China and that refusing a gift can be highly insulting. Yet, you do not want to violate your country’s ethical policies. How do you proceed? Do you employ your company’s home country ethics, local ethical norms, or some combination?

Respond with one initial post and at least two responses to your colleagues.

Week 2

Learning Activity #1

This week’s schedule calls for you to access and complete two self evaluations of your personality type - the Jung Typology and the Big Five Personality Assessment. Complete these assessments, recording the results for reference. Then, share the results and comment on how, based on the information contained in this week’s readings, your personality is likely to impact your work life and choice of work. Comment on whether you believe you are a good fit for your current job, whether there are different professions or jobs which you think you might be better suited for, and how you might consider changing your situation if it seems called for.

Remember to make your initial post and then respond to at least two of your colleagues.

Learning Activity #2

You are interviewing a candidate for a position of some responsibility and access to significant amounts of both merchandise and money. The applicant happens to be Japanese and is highly qualified with outstanding references. You notice the individual is reluctant to look you in the eye when responding to questions. What is your perception of this behavior? Should you be concerned about hiring this individual for such a sensitive position? What is the interviewee’s perception of this behavior and how does it differ from yours? Remember to make your initial posting and to respond to two of your colleagues.

Week 3

Learning Activity #1

This week, we are spending much of our time discussing and learning about motivating people. There is, however, a contrarian viewpoint that says if you get the right people, they are self motivated. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great holds this view. Watch the video below:

The Right People are Self Motivated (Scroll down to the video with this title)

Do you agree or disagree with Collins’ viewpoint? Make your case in the discussion but be sure to use more than just your personal opinion and experiences. Back up your reasoning my drawing on the theories and concepts in this week’s readings.

Learning Activity #2

Based on the good work that he did in handling previous multicultural issues, Frank Jones has promoted to the General Manager of his company’s Tokyo operations. Performance in this operation has been just barely acceptable and he would like to find a way to motivate higher levels of performance. In a previous position in the New York operation, he implemented a performance improvement motivation plan that included individual bonuses individual recognition at an annual sales meeting and attendance at the meeting, held at a post resort, for spouses of the top 10% of the force.

Frank has engaged you as an OB consultant and asked you to review the plan and recommend modifications that would make it successful in Tokyo. What do you tell him. Support your recommendations by referring to significant motivational theories and concepts and to material identifying relevant cultural dimensions of Japan.

Week 4

Learning Activity #1

Patrick Lencioni's book The Five Dysfunctions of a Teamhas become a classic treatise on best practices to use in creating and leading teams.

First, watch the short video below:

Next, refer to the PDF found at this link:

The Five Dysfunctions of A Team

Learning Activity #2

Respond to both of the following questions, and respond to three of your colleagues for each post. Make your initial post by creating a new topic.

1.Referring to the video and the PDF summary of the five dysfunctions, pick the dysfunction that you believe to be the most significant and harmful and explain your choice. Give an example of where you have seen this dysfunction in action in a team in which you have participated or which you have observed.

2.Select a team that you have been a member or leader of or have interacted with and determine whether this "team" was a real team as described in the material in the text or was actually a group that did not meet the tests of being a team. Describe the factors that where present that led you to your conclusion.

Week 5

Learning Activity #1

Ethical leadership is a subject that scholars have debated for years. Is all leadership, by definition, ethical or is it possible to have unethical leadership?

Download the article from the link below

http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2007/griffith.pdf

In it, I argue that ethical leadership is made up of two components, an ethical leadership process and and ethical leadership objective. Study the article and then respond to the following:

Pick a famous leader whom you believe is or was either ethical or unethical. Argue your case in the discussion post using the criteria set forth in the article above. Make sure you discuss both the leadership process employed and the ethicality of the leader’s objectives.

Learning Activity #2

This week’s material covers the perils of groupthink, overcommitment and avoidance of failure, and the concept of a premortem, an analysis of potential failure scenarios before embarking upon a project or activity. The following podcast touches on all of these topics and attempts to make the case that failing early is good and avoiding failure at all cost is unhealthy. In addition, it applies market based economics to the prediction of failure in a novel way.

Premortems are becoming increasingly popular and, in fact, a formal method for conducting them and prioritizing risks has been developed. Failure Mode Effects Analysis was originally designed to allow engineers to predict failures in complex systems and to prioritize the risks to allow them to be reduced in an orderly and cost effective manner. It has now been widely applied to other situations where a premortem makes sense, such as in the management of complex projects. Read the short tutorial at the following link:

https://www.moresteam.com/toolbox/fmea.cfm

Then, identify a significant project or process where you are employed and use the technique to conduct an FMEA. Use an Excel spreadsheet to show the various failure modes, severities, and probability of detection and their associated ranking numbers. Sort them into descending order of RPN, and then propose actions that can be taken to remove or control each risk.

Week 6

Learning Activity #1

As the text notes, the ability for an organization to change in order to meet changing business environments and threats is key to its success. Click on the Resources section of the classroom (at the top) then go to the library. In the search function, enter the term Resource Rigidity. Read the first article that appears in the search results Unbundling the Structure of Inertia: Resource vs. Routine Rigidityby Clark Gilbert. The article theorizes that these types of inertia are responsible for much of the inability of organizations to change and uses the newspaper industry as an example.

Select another company which you believe has been unable to effectively change to meet changing market requirements or threats. Apply the concepts of the article to diagnose the inertia of the company, explaining how you believe the resource and routine rigidity impacted the organization and how you, as a leader would have overcome these issues.

Remember to respond to two of your colleagues’ posts.

Learning Activity #2

There are a variety of instruments that can be used to assess and diagnose organizational culture. One of these uses what is called the competing values framework.

Proceed to the website:

http://www.ocai-online.com/products/ocai-one

and follow the directions for registering and taking the individual Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. (Note: use your personal email when registering and do not attempt to register and take the assessment from a work computer or from behind a computer protected by a firewall, it may result in issues. If you have trouble with the site, create another free email address such as a gmail address, and register from that site.

After you have completed the assessment, post your results, including the diagram by cutting and pasting it into the discussion area or including it as an attachment. Using the results, describe your organization’s culture with special emphasis on the discrepancy between your preferred style and the existing cultural style. Comment on how you believe the culture aids or hinders the organization’s efforts with special attention to the ability to change and innovate.

Remember to respond to two of your colleagues’ posts.

Week 7

Learning Activity #1

Stress is a pervasive and often destructive part of our working lives as we deal with deadlines, balance our work and personal lives, and deal with the today’s economic pressures. We often wonder if the level of stress in our lives has increased or if we are just more aware of it. Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University has studied this phenomenon and has some answers for us.

Go to http://www.bemindfulonline.com and view the video in the upper right corner to hear Professor Williams’ thoughts. Then, go to http://bemindful.co.uk/mbsr/test/ for the stress test.

After taking the test, create an original post to share your stress level. In addition, drawing on the material in the text, identify the top three stressors in your life and suggest several courses of action you can take to reduce the level of stress affecting you. Remember to respond to at least two of your colleagues.

Learning Activity #2

We are approaching the end of the course and your final project is due in Week 8. so we are going to go a bit easy on this week’s learning activities. In order to help you get started on your project, make an initial posting identifying which of the organizations you intend to analyze. In addition, include a brief proposed outline and a list of what you think are the critical issues facing the organization from an OB perspective. You will be doing additional research during the next two weeks, so you will not be held to these items, but they should give you a headstart on the paper. Remember to respond constructively to two of your peers, offering suggestions as to how they might improve their analysis or offering additional items to consider.

Week 8

We are wrapping up this week and I would like to have you spend most of your time on the final project. Accordingly, we have only one activity this week.

The organizational issues surrounding the Secret Service have been widely reported and debated in the news and a new Acting Director has been appointed. He is a former agent with eperience on the Presiential detail. He has a very big challenge ahead of him, so let’s help him out.

After reading about what has been going on at the VA, put yourself in the shoes of an OB consultant brought in to help the new Director. Identify the top three OB issues that you believe must be immediately addressed to improve the performance of the VA. Then, identify the actions you would recommend to the Secretary in order to address these issues. Be sure you draw on the concepts and theories form the course in formulating your response.

Case Study 1
Instructions
Case Study 1: Individual Level of Analysis You are to review and analyze a case study that describes the effect of individual characteristics and behavior (individual level of analysis) on organizational performance and effectiveness. You will also propose recommendations for change and improvement. The case, "Reach for the Stars—Developing Salespeople, Achieving Organizational Success," describes critical observations and incidents concerning employee (manager and worker) characteristics and behavior, and their effects on employee and performance organizational effectiveness. You must do the following: Identify and analyze the critical incidents (problems, situations, issues, and consequences) in the case that influenced individual and organizational performance and effectiveness. Make appropriate recommendations to improve any problems, meet challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. The discussion and analysis should be based on concepts, theories, and research related to organizational behavior at the individual level, and therefore should address sources and topics covered in the readings and learning activities for Weeks 1-3 (i.e., individual ability, biographical, demographic, and cultural characteristics, personality and emotions, values and attitude, motivation, and perception). In addition to evidencing an understanding of material covered in resources assigned and examined in Weeks 1-3, you must use at least one additional reference. Your responses will include: identification and explanation of all relevant concepts and theories, using examples where appropriate an explanation of the specific characteristics, incidents and/or situations in the case that addresses the concepts or theories analysis of the relevance of identifying and better understanding individual characteristics analysis of pros and cons of key incidents or situations (i.e., what are the drawbacks and/or positives associated with the situation as it related to individual performance and/or organizational productivity and effectiveness?) specific recommendations to address problems, challenges, and opportunities, and a proposed follow-up or evaluation Required Formatting of Paper: This paper should be double-spaced, 12-point font, and between three to four pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Title page with your name, the course name, the date, and the instructor’s name. Use at least one reference other than the course material. Use APA formatting for in-text citations and reference page. You are expected to paraphrase and not use quotes. Deductions will be taken when quotes are used and found to be unnecessary. Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder. Note: Professors may use the case below or select another case that focuses on OB at the individual level of analysis. This case was designed and developed for BMGT 464 from original and adapted sources. Case Study 2, BMGT 464 Going Global: What Does it Take to Make Cross-cultural Teams Successful? PetGourmand, a second generation, family-owned Memphis-based company with about 200 employees, develops, manufactures, and sells nutritious, gourmet food products for pets. PetGourmand is a low-tech, hands-on, bricks and mortar company with solid brand recognition, an impeccable reputation for high quality and ethical standards and processes, older work force (average employee age is late 40s), low staff turnover, impressive record of speedy state and federal new-product approvals, and solid working relationships with their veterinary and pet-owner customers. For the most part the company plays up the PetGourmand as a close "family," although the organization's structure is hierarchical with fairly rigid management divisions and reporting policies. Research, manufacturing, and sales and marketing operate in traditional fashion, with employees reporting to supervisors or mid-level managers. By the 1990s, sales and distribution grew from Tennessee into a regional market, establishing a competitive advantage throughout the US South. Then came the Great Recession. As customers lost jobs, and small business profits, such as veterinary practices dipped, the demand of "fancy cat food," as one PetGourmand lab technician said, seemed to disappear overnight. By the time Bon Vivant Specialities contacted PetGourmand's CEO about acquiring PetGourmand, the writing was on the wall. Bon Vivant Specialities (BVS) is a large Chinese-owned manufacturer and distributor of gourmet food and beverages, headquartered in Hong Kong. Manufacturing plants operate in main land China, and the company has additional offices in Europe and Australia. By acquiring the smaller, well-respected PetGourmand, BVS aims to diversify and expand its consumer base by including products tailor-made to meet market projections of a customer upsurge in healthy, gourmet pet foods and treats. Given the availability of telecommunications technology (software and hardware), and BVS's current expertise and use of such technology, geography and location should not be an insurmountable issue. PetGourmand employees, on the other hand, are dispirited about the acquisition, and anxious about "working for foreigners," downsizing, less face-to-face interaction, language differences, and more electronic systems put into place. To make matters worse, recent news media have printed stories about tainted pet food made by other companies in China. Employees fear loss of product quality and damage to PetGourmand's reputation. BVS has told PetGourmand workers that—for now—most employees will be retained. However, all employees will be evaluated, and reassigned and integrated into BVS's existing, and to-be-formed-as-needed, work teams, a key component of BVS's flat, smoothly efficient organizational structure. BVS's management staff, scientists, and sales professionals tend to be tech-savvy, culturally diverse, young-to-middle age (ages 25 to mid-forties), bi-lingual, ambitious, self-directed, accustomed to working remotely, and clearly focused on the company’s commercial success. BVS’s Harvard-educated CEO, Daniel Chinn, supports increasing the company's competitive edge by "discovering and developing individual potential through group collaboration and team synergy," and is known to be an enthusiastic supporter of job training and career growth beginning from his days as a brilliant, hard-driving MBA student. He's eager to move forward on the integration of "PetGourmand's greatest asset—it's knowledge rich, experienced workers." Group Research Project: Case Study 2–Group Level of Analysis This assignment is a group project. It will assess your and your study group's knowledge of the effect of group behavior on organizational performance and effectiveness. It also will examine your critical thinking and writing skills within a collaborative team environment. Your team will be created under Study Groups, and where all collaboration will take place. You must read the case titled "Going Global: What Does it Take to Make Cross-cultural Teams Successful?"; identify and analyze key problems, challenges, and opportunities in the case; and make recommendations for solving the problems and challenges. Recommendations and analysis should address OB issues focusing on the group level of analysis, and should be based on information from Chapters 8-11 and portions of Chapters 12 (as designated in the Course Schedule), and two outside references. Instructions: Read assigned material for Weeks 4, and 5. Research relevant, credible, well founded outside materials to support analysis. Document and evaluate strategies or interventions that the organization could use to solve problems and enhance team performance and effectiveness. Propose and evaluate recommendations for ongoing improvements to organizational performance and success. Evaluate each of your fellow team members' contribution and performance using a structure performance measure (use the attached peer evaluation form/rubric). Your group project case analysis report should use the following format: Summary of the case background Identification, analysis, and discussion of problems, challenges, and opportunities Proposed recommendations and solutions Make sure you thoroughly identify, explain, and analyze the key concepts, theories, issues, and problems in the case. Your analysis and recommendations should show mastery of the course subject and good critical thinking skills. Deliverable Your paper should be four typed, doubled-spaced pages in length. You should use appropriate APA-style citations and proper report writing style, including headings and subheadings. You are expected to paraphrase and not use quotes. Deductions will be taken when quotes are used and found to be unnecessary. Final Project: Organizational Level of Analysis You are to research and analyze the organizational performance and effectiveness of one of the organizations listed below. You will also propose recommendations for change and improvement. Google Target Microsoft Wal-Mart FAA FDIC The specific tasks are outlined below: Interview, if available, organizational members, research the organization's web sites, and use at least four other academic or highly respected business publications to gather information and research issues. Do a SWOT analysis on the organization. Document and evaluate strategies or interventions that the organization could use to enhance its performance and effectiveness. Propose and evaluate recommendations for improvements in the organization. The focus of the research will be on examining and analyzing OB issues at the organization-systems level. The report may address concepts, theories, and proposed solutions relating to effective human resource practices, leadership challenges, organization structural design and organization change, culture and development and their effect on organization and employee productivity, turnover, absence, satisfaction, citizenship, etc. Deliverable The deliverable will be an eight-page, double-spaced report. The report must include a cover page and bibliography; follow APA guidelines for citation; and use one-inch margins and 10- or 12-point type. Four references other than the course material are required. You are expected to paraphrase and not use quotes. Deductions will be taken when quotes are used and found to be unnecessary. Grading Rubric for Organizational Level of Analysis Criteria Exemplary Accomplished Developing Beginning Minimum Below Standards 6 4.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0 Formulated, wrote, interpreted, argued, and evaluated concepts/theories of organizational behavior that create an environment (work and organization design) that leads to high performance Formulated, wrote, interpreted, argued, and evaluated at least three concepts/theories without relating to how they would create a high-performance environment Interpreted, argued, and wrote at least three concepts/theories without relating to how they would create a high-performance environment Interpreted, argued, and wrote at least two concepts/theories without relating to how they would create a high-performance environment Formulated, argued, and wrote at least two concepts/theories without relating to how they would create a high-performance environment Formulated at least one concept/theory without relating to how it would create a high-performance environment Did not write concepts/theories of organizational behavior creating an environment of high performance 6 4.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0 Analyzed, proposed, devised, and designed strategies, policies, and procedures relating to leadership challenges such as decision making, change, conflict resolution, and organizational commitment in an organization at every level Analyzed, proposed, devised, and designed at least three strategies, policies, and procedures relating to leadership challenges, with an example on a global level Analyzed, proposed, devised, and designed at least three strategies, polices, and procedures relating to leadership challenges, with an example Proposed and devised at least two strategies, polices, and procedures relating to leadership challenges, without an example Analyzed and proposed at least two strategies, polices, or procedures relating to leadership challenges Analyzed at least one strategy, policy, or procedure relating to leadership challenges Did not analyze, propose, devise, or design strategies, polices, and procedures relating to leadership challenges 6 4.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0 Analyzed, proposed, devised, and researchedtechniques relating to human resources policies and practices (personal selection, training and development, and performance evaluation) Analyzed, proposed, devised, researched, and evaluated at least three techniques relating to human resources on a local, national, and global level Analyzed, proposed, devised, and researched at least three techniques relating to human resources, without details Proposed, devised, and researched at least two techniques relating to human resources without an example in a real-life organization Proposed, devised, and researched at least two techniques relating to human resources Analyzed at least one technique relating to human resources Did not analyze, propose, devise, or research techniques relating to human resources 6 4.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0 Analyzed and createdOB recommendations relating to developing a high-performing organizational culture Analyzed, debated, and evaluated the organizational culture to create OB recommendations Analyzed, debated, and evaluated the organizational culture to determine OB recommendations Debated and evaluated the organizational culture to determine OB recommendations Analyzed and evaluated the organizational culture to determine OB recommendations Analyzed the organizational culture to determine OB recommendations Did not analyze and create OB recommendations 6 4.8 3.6 2.4 1.2 0 Demonstrated use ofassignment instructions, mechanics, grammar, and appropriate reference citations/APA format Composed, constructed, and formulated entire report without grammatical errors; followed all formatting and APA requirements and assignment instructions; demonstrated conciseness and excellence in writing Formulated report without grammatical errors; followed required instructions, format, and APA citation and reference requirements Constructed report without grammatical errors, followed required format and assignment instructions, but did not fully meet reference requirements Composed documents without grammatical errors, but did not use proper format, or reference for; requirements not fully met Described organizational content in writing with grammatical errors and did not follow assignment instructions Did not use proper mechanics or APA format, or follow assignment instructions