11 Assignment Guidelines

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The purpose of this group project is to provide an opportunity to apply research and analytical skills to address the organizational behaviour-related challenges facing an individual and an organization. Click here to read the Case Study that this assignment is based on. You’ll probably want to print a copy of the case and keep it handy while you work on this assignment.

As a team you will identify challenges, research potential innovative solutions and provide Eva with detailed recommendations and action plans relating to three different challenges she is facing. The deliverables produced for this assignment include:

1. Project charter/plan and selection of three challenges your team will focus on (e.g. leadership, motivation, change management, etc.)
2. Recommendations and action plan for Challenge 1
3. Recommendations and action plan for Challenge 2
4. Recommencations and action plan for Challenge 3

This project has been designed in such a way as to discourage a “divide and conquer approach” and encourage a collaborative team effort. Subsequently team process and collaboration forms part of your grade for this assignment. 50% of your grade is based on your participation and 50% is based on the “product” produced by your team. My experience from running this assignment in other classes is that the team with the best group process produces the best deliverable. To read more about the “Lessons Learned” from previous classes Click Here.

Click here to access the assessment rubrics that I use when grading your work. It’s a good idea to print these as well and refer to them as you work on this assignment.

In order to facilitate the grading of your participation please ensure that all project-related communication occurs on the Group Project Discussion Forum or summary minutes are posted for all online/in-person meetings.  I need to know who was there, the topics discussed and the actions that arise from each meeting.

This assignment runs over a period of five weeks – my suggestion is that you use the first week to plan the project, then focus on a different challenge area for the first 3 weeks and use the last week to pull the assignment together. Each team member must contribute research and ideas to all of the challenge areas. For each challenge area of the project your group should identify what questions (e.g. research) you need answered in order to produce the recommendations and then assign those questions to individual team members. The individual team members will conduct research, and summarize the research for the team so the group can use the information to develop the deliverable. As you work on the deliverable you may find that you have additional questions that require additional research.

Each team member must contribute a minimum of 2 pieces of research to each deliverable – you can do more.  A minimum of 50% of each individual’s research must be from peer reviewed journals (e.g. library research). The research contribution should include the URL address, a summary of the information contained in the resource and how you think it could contribute to the deliverable that your group will produce. This information will be posted in the group project discussion forum for your team to use as you work on the project. Research for the “sake of research” that does not contribute to the development of the deliverable is not valuable and will be graded as such.

When the final paper is pulled together each team member should have an Appendix showcasing the research they conducted – the URL’s, the summary of the research and how you think it contributes to the project. This appendix is simply a compilation of the research that you will have completed throughout the project.

STEP 1 – GETTING STARTED

Assignment: Team Charter/Plan (1-2 pages) and Identification of three Challenge Areas to be Used as the Basis of the Assignment (3-4 sentences describing each)

All team members should read the assignment and the attached case and identify any questions that you have. Discuss them in your Group Project Discussion Forum. As a team you must build a team charter that identifies the expectations of team members – this is your “Rules of the Road” and will be used to evaluate individual participation in this project. Some questions to consider include the following:

• How often should people check the group discussion forum each week?
• How much research should individuals contribute to each stage; how will you decide who researches what area to avoid duplication; how will the group handle the situation where someone’s research does not contribute to the deliverable; if additional research is required to make your deliverable really strong how will you decide who does it?
• How will the deliverables be prepared? What are your deadlines? What is your schedule of communication?
• Will you have a project manager for the entire project, assign a leader for each section or will you operate as a self- managed team,
• Will you have a meeting time each week where people are online, etc.
• How will you address members who don’t participate or submit material late?
• Include any other expectations that you think will be helpful to ensure that your team operates effectively.

These expectations will be used to evaluate team members at the conclusion of the project. I will ask you to rate each team member’s contribution to the final product and support your ratings based on the expectations that your team set.

The team must decide on three challenge areas to use as the basis of your assignment. The challenge areas can include anything that you think Eva will need to address as she starts her new position. To identify the challenge areas I’d suggest the following process:

• Have each team member read the case and identify as many issues/challenges as possible
• Post your work to the group discussion area
• Compile the list of issues/challenges produced by the group and review the list to identify duplications or issues that could be combined
• Agree on three challenges that your team will focus on. Write a 3-4 sentence paragraph describing each challenge.

This portion should be posted in your group’s discussion area. I will provide feedback to your group in your discussion area.

STEP 2 – Challenge #1, #2 and #3

Assignment: Recommendations on how to address each of the challenge areas (5-6 pages each). Focus on 1 of these each week.

• Identify the issues/questions that need to be answered in order to build your recommendations. What don’t you know?
• Define each research question very clearly and divide the research areas among your team members.
• Post you research summaries to the discussion area and use it to develop your deliverable. Your research summary should include the reference (include the length of article), a 2-3 paragraph description of the resource and a paragraph identifying why you think this is valuable information for your group to consider when developing the recommendations
• Make any assumptions necessary to develop a comprehensive program and document any assumptions/rationales that are important for understanding your decision-making.
• Your recommendations should include: what you will do and why. Be specific, and clearly identify how it will address the issue/challenge. Use you research to support and validate your recommendations. Identify the actions required to implement the recommendation

STEP 3 – Report Preparation

Assignment: Final Report

• All deliverables must be 12 pt. font, double-spaced and not exceed the page specifications excluding title page, table of contents, references and appendices)
• Your report should include a title page, table of contents, introduction and references. Appendices that support your decisions may also be included.
• Appendix for each team member showcasing the research they conducted personally.
• Prepare your report according to APA guidelinesThis report will be submitted to the Group Assignment Dropbox.​