Overview
The main objective of this assignment is to apply a concept, theory, or principle of
Organizational Behavior to a real-life organizational situation/scenario. Henceforth we will use
the generic term, “concept” to refer to the main OB idea being applied in the essay.
I would like you to imagine that you are writing a case study for publication in a book to be used
for future course sections of Managing People in Organizations. The hypothetical book might be
titled, Case Studies in Organizational Behavior: An Application of Key Concepts and Theories.
Your main purpose is to demonstrate how a course concept can be useful when applied to a
“real-life” organizational scenario. In your essay, you will need to (a) provide a clear and
accurate understanding of the concept, (b) include sufficient detail about an organizational
scenario that allows for an in-depth application, and (c) offer an in-depth applied analysis that
demonstrates how the concept can be used to understand the scenario and/or improve
outcomes associated with the scenario.
Please note that the purpose of this assignment is NOT to fully solve a workplace problem. It is
likely that a number of concepts would be needed to do this, along with extensive data
collection and interaction with organizational members. In other words, this is NOT a consulting
project. Rather, this project is designed to demonstrate your understanding of an OB concept
and to demonstrate, in detail, how this can be applied to a workplace scenario. In other words,
the concept and its application take center stage here.
Steps
1. Identify a “real-life” workplace scenario (i.e., situation/issue/incident) that can be
analyzed from the perspective of an OB concept.
2. Choose the OB concept to apply from among the options below.
3. Apply the concept: examine the implications of the concept for your specific case.
4. Write up your analysis in the form of a case study that could be used by future students
of this course to better understand the concept it illustrates Choose a workplace scenario that can be analyzed from the perspective of an OB concept. Try
to choose your scenario in conjunction with choosing a specific OB concept to apply. Ultimately,
it is critical that you can clearly demonstrate how the OB concept (a) promotes enhanced
understanding of the scenario, (b) suggests practical actions to remediate negative
consequences that resulted from the scenario, and/or (c) suggests practical actions that could
improve future organizational processes and outcomes.
The scenario can be derived from recent or past personal experience or the experience of a
friend, family member, or colleague. To meet the assignment requirements, the case must
involve behaviors of individuals interacting in an organizational setting. Some examples of
suitable situations/issues/incidents:
• Two members of a cross-functional team are experiencing significant relationship
conflict, which is impairing the team’s performance
• Job satisfaction seems to be very low in a specific department and the department’s
manager must find some way to address this before it negatively impacts productivity
• An organization has struggled to identify and develop leaders and wishes to change
recruitment and/or development practices to promote more effective leadership
• A manager struggles to manage a “difficult” but productive employee
• Recently, an organization has faced significant external challenges which have filtered
down to negatively affect employees—increasing stress, decreasing motivation, and
leading to increased absenteeism and turnover
The scenario you choose will provide the “raw material” (i.e., details involving the organization,
individuals involved, and situation/issue/incident) for an application of OB-related “tools” (i.e.,
concepts and theories) that can be used to enhance understanding of the scenario.
Concepts
You may choose from among the following concepts, theories, or principles for your analysis:
• Person by situation interaction
• The Schwartz Theory of Basic Values
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Stereotype threat
• McClelland’s Theory of Acquired Needs
• Self-Determination Theory
• Goal-Setting Theory
• Pluralistic ignorance
Social loafing
Psychological effects of power on the power-holder
• Commitment/consistency principle of influence
• Social proof principle of influence
• Competing Values Framework of organizational culture
• Groupthink
Written Analysis
Your written analysis is worth 120 points. It should be a maximum of 6 pages, double-spaced, 1-
inch margins, and use 12-pt font. Papers should be organized with the following header
structure. Required content within each section/subsection is described following an overview
of the header structure.
1. Case Overview
a. Purpose.
b. Incident/Issue Overview.
c. Reader Objectives.
2. Concept Explanation
3. Issue/Incident Description
4. Application of Concept(s)
5. Case Summary & Conclusion
1. Case Overview (15 pts)
The purpose of this section is to provide a concise overview of your case (i.e., something
like an executive summary). In total, this section should be between ½ and ¾ of a page in
length. It should address the following:
Purpose: What is the purpose of this case? Note that this purpose should highlight the
concept being explained and applied. This subsection should be 1-2 very clear sentences.
Incident/Issue Overview: Very briefly, describe the incident, issue, situation, or problem
to be analyzed in the case. This is merely a summary overview. Attempt to describe this in
one paragraph.
Reader Objectives: What do you want a reader to learn as a result of studying this case?
Identify between 2-3 specific objectives and try to describe them in no more than one
sentence each.
2. Concept Explanation (30 pts) Discuss the concept that you have chosen to apply to this scenario. Do so in such a way
that a novice reader—someone who has not yet been exposed to Organizational
Behavior—could understand and learn about the concept/theory. This discussion should
include defining, describing, and explaining the concept. A definition is a general, broad
statement that summarizes the concept/theory. A description offers additional detail
regarding the concept/theory. Explanation is the process of making something clearer and
easier to understand. Explanations can involve providing commentaries on short
examples—describing why the example fits with your definition and description.
Explanations can also involve discussing how the concept/theory fits in to a “bigger
picture” of meaning—connecting the concept to other bodies of knowledge, explaining
the concept’s practical implications, or anticipating and then clarifying possible sources of
confusion regarding the concept. Make sure that this section includes all three
elements—definition, description, and explanation.
3. Issue/Incident Description (25 pts)
In detail, describe the issue/incident. Begin with a concise summary statement of the
issue/incident that focuses on the problem(s) to be solved or question(s) to be answered.
For example, a concise summary statement might read as follows:
The following scenario describes a pattern of highly problematic behaviors
exhibited by the manager of a mid-sized car dealership over the course of
approximately 6 months. The impact of the manager’s behavior pattern on
employees and customers will be described in detail. Additionally, aspects of the
situational context and personal attributes of the manager will be discussed in
an attempt to better understand the causes underlying the problematic behavior
pattern and to identify possible solutions.
Following this concise summary, provide as much detail about the case as is necessary to
understand your subsequent concept application. Write this in narrative form (like a story
of what happened). Include the “who, what, when, where, and why” of the scenario.
Make sure that your description of the scenario is sufficiently detailed and includes any
relevant aspects of the situational context or personal attributes of the individuals
involved. The more specific you are regarding the scenario, the easier it will be for you to
explain how a concept applies to the example. Remember here that the point of this
assignment is to write up a case that someone could use as an example to understand the
concept you have chosen. For many students, it will be advantageous to re-visit this
section and add/subtract details following completion of the following section,
“Application of Concept”.4 4. Application of Concept (45 pts)
In detail, discuss how the concept applies to your specific case. This should be the longest
and most carefully crafted section of your paper. Here, address how the concept helps
you: (a) better understand the causes of the issue/incident, (b) identify practical steps to
improve outcomes in the scenario, and/or (c) identify practical steps to avoid similar
outcomes in the future. In essence, thinking of the concept as a tool, explain how you
would use the tool in the scenario. Be concrete and specific in your description of how the
concept is helpful. The more detailed the analysis here, the better.
5. Case Summary & Conclusion (5 pts)
Provide a very brief summary of your analysis of the case. Re-emphasize the overall
goal(s) of the case and describe how the case satisfies that goal(s).
Grading
Your written analysis is worth 120 points and will be assessed based on the extent to which you
have adequately addressed each of the required case elements represented by the specific
headers above. In other words, the primary grading criterion for each paper section will be an
assessment of the extent to which your paper satisfies the objectives described for that section.
Some additional overall criteria that will also form the basis for my assessment include:
• Organization: How clearly written and professionally written is the case?
• Mastery: To what extent did you appropriately, insightfully, and cogently apply class
concepts to the development and analysis of your case?
• Scope: How ambitious is your analysis? How difficult is the task you set for yourself?
Completing and Submitting Your Essay
You may begin work immediately and have the entire 8-week semester to complete your essay. You
will submit the essay as an assignment upload included in Module 8, which opens on March 6th
.
Although you may complete the essay before March 6th, you will not be able to submit the essay
until Module 8 opens on that date.
Notes/Tips:
• Overall, when grading your papers I will consider the extent to which I believe that an
average member of your student peer group—someone who has not yet taken MGMT
506—could use your case to help understand the concepts you have chosen. Do NOT write
this as if I am the audience! Write this as if you are using the case to teach your peers at
Anderson.5 • Choose only one of the available concepts. It may be tempting to discuss multiple concepts
but please avoid this. Multiple OB concepts are typically applicable to any given
organizational scenario. Good students will recognize this–identifying several concepts that
they might discuss in an essay. Despite this, choose only one. My aim with this assignment
is to assess your ability to: (a) understand an OB concept, (b) understand how the concept
relates to an organizational scenario, and (c) articulate your understanding to others. I think
most of you will find that it’s actually harder to accomplish these goals than it seems at first
blush. Adding multiple concepts to the mix will amplify the difficulty level of the assignment
because, then, you’ll need to accomplish the above for multiple rather than a single
concept.
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