PAF 311 ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS GUIDELINES

Overview
Think of yourself and your team as a group of consultant. Your group of 3 -5 people will examine two actual
organizations of your choice across the public, nonprofit, and/or private sectors and a problem (or set of related
problems) that each are experiencing or require the need for change, diagnose the problem(s) or need for change,
and recommend solution(s).

The main objectives of this assignment are to provide you with an opportunity to:

• apply and expand upon the concepts learned in class to an actual situation

• develop an in-depth understanding of two organizations through case research

• develop consulting skills in data gathering, analysis, and communication

Topics
The focus of your case study must be an org-behavior/leadership/management topic that expands on those covered
in the course. You should briefly discuss the strategy of the organization and how it relates to the question you are
addressing. You will examine the situation at the organizations and make your recommendations.

Pointers on the Project

• Look for interesting problems that will let you show off your insight and creativity, and the ability to really use
the concepts discussed. Note: “Interesting” does not necessarily mean “complex.” The more complex the
issue(s), the more difficult it is to handle well in one paper.

• You will no doubt discover that few truly interesting problems conform neatly to the topic boundaries in the
course. Try, though, to keep the discussion focused on one major topic (or better yet, one major theory within a
topic) and minimize the discussion of secondary issues. Attempts to cover everything end up covering nothing
very well.

• The course concepts are essentially general as they apply to a wide range of organizations and people. Your
case, however, is necessarily specific. Consequently, no model(s) may fully and adequately account for the
particular events in your case. Do not force the case to fit the model. Instead, try to explain how the unique
features in your case may modify or extend the model.

• If you can, select your two organizations for which you will be able to talk with managers/employees who work
at that company or conduct interesting research. Some people select an organization at which they work at. This
is fine and gives you access to inside information. A potential problem with basing a presentation on personal
experience is that you may sound like you have an ax to grind. If you have had experience with the organization
you select, try to be as objective and impartial as possible in analyzing the case. For example, put yourself in the
shoes of other participants, interview people with other perspectives, try to stand back from the situation and
see it as a neutral observer might, and critique your own actions and beliefs. It’s OK to have strong feelings
about a case: It’s not OK to vent them. Be sure to explain where you got your information to make it more
credible.

• Make your recommendations fairly specific. There are bound to be real trade-offs and implementation
difficulties inherent in your ideas. These drawbacks should be addressed. If the problem is clearly intractable
(e.g., the owner is the problem), at least discuss how the situation ought to be in light of your analysis.

• Rehearse your presentation to insure that you don’t exceed the time limit of 10 MINUTES.

Presentation Grading (10% of semester grade – 50 points)

Instructor and Audience Evaluations.

I will evaluate your presentation on your persuasiveness and creativity of recommendations and quality of research
evidence supporting the group position from library and/or personal research. Additionally, your presentation will
be graded on communication effectiveness (both speakers and PowerPoint slides). Please limit your presentation of
the organizations, their problems, and your proposed solutions in the 10 minutes (or less).

You will submit this recording to the Canvas page.

Paper Grading (25% of semester grade – 100 points)

Sources

You must cite at a minimum 3 “published” sources not including your textbook, beyond that the boundaries are
that of imagination. Published sources may include organizational documents, trade journals, local newspapers, and
the business press (e.g., Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, WSJ). Other sources may include personal work experience,
interviews with members of an organization, questionnaires, observations of workplace behavior, Do not use a “pre-
packaged” case (e.g., from a text or casebook). Be sure to document and cite your sources, both in your paper and
your presentation. While this is not a research project, you are strongly encouraged to do additional readings to get
additional depth of information about your selected topic, This should also be cited in your bibliography.

Format

(1) Introduction: Provide an overview/executive summary.

(2) Description of Organizations (and if Relevant, Department and Jobs):
Provide enough detail so that the audience can get a sense of what the organization/department does, and how it is
structured (e.g., who is in charge, how work moves through the unit).

(3) Description and Analysis of Problem(s): Together with the Recommendations, this is the meat of the presentation.
The more rigorous and insightful the analysis, the better. Be explicit in linking your analysis to a management
model(s). But don’t simply regurgitate the readings and lectures. Do research and go beyond them. Be sure to cite
your sources.

(4) Recommendations: Depending on the problem and analysis, you may or may not decide to: (1) include and weigh
alternatives, and (2) provide an implementation plan. Either way, commit yourself to a particular solution or set of
solutions. Don’t be afraid to be creative. Provide evidence that your recommendations would help the
organization solve the problem(s) or would at least be a positive step in that process (i.e., evidence of potential
effectiveness).

(5) Conclusion: Summarize and close.

(6) Bibliography: Be sure to provide a bibliography of all sources including primary sources like interviews or
company data.

Paper Length
The paper content must not exceed ten (10) pages double-space font sized 12. Your bibliography, footnotes and any
appendices will not count against the 10-page limit.