In this assignment, you need to present and discuss a real life management problem in a practical business context. The main goal of this assignment is how much you can analyze and synthesize relevant issues from what you learned (and will learn) in your class, and apply theories to the management problem.
1. Requirement: Search recent business news or cases OUTSIDE of your textbook.
Possible sources:
- Business Week
- Forbes
- Fortune
- Harvard Business Review
- The Wall Street Journal or other similar publications
- Websites: Knowledge @ Wharton http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm
- Use Business Source Premier with your interesting topic keywords
- Google with your interesting topic keywords
- Leader’s perception and decision making bias
- Successful leader – how she/he became successful?
- Unethical leader – can come with unethical company case
- Cognitive ability and Emotional intelligence of leader
- How to motivate your employee
- Abusive supervisor – Workplace Bullying
- Improving Employee Job Satisfaction
- Encouraging Ethical Behavior in Employees (e.g. consider the impact of their actions on climate change, ensure the safety of others, consider how actions impact multiple stakeholders)
- How leader builds corporate culture
- How leader can change the organization
Possible topics:
- Leader’s perception and decision making bias
- Successful leader – how she/he became successful?
- Unethical leader – can come with unethical company case
- Cognitive ability and Emotional intelligence of leader
- How to motivate your employee
- Abusive supervisor – Workplace Bullying
- Improving Employee Job Satisfaction
- Encouraging Ethical Behavior in Employees (e.g. consider the impact of their actions on climate change, ensure the safety of others, consider how actions impact multiple stakeholders)
- How leader can change the organization
2. What to submit
The written report should be no more than 5 pages in length, excluding exhibits and attachments, with 12-point font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. I am expecting to read at least 4 pages for your submission.
3. Format: Please make sure to include following items in your assignment with subheadings for each section.
I. Summary (15 points)
In this section, please summarize your choice of article. It should be about 1-2 paragraphs, and less than one page.
II. Define the main problem/issue (15 points)
In this section, please try to find the main problem/ issue from your choice of article. The main problem/ issue can be similar to what your chosen article author is arguing. On the other hand, you may not agree with the author’s point of view. Please describe whether you agree/disagree with the author, and would like to add a point with your own opinion. It should be about 1-2 paragraphs, and less than one page.
III. Application (50 points)
This is the most important section of this assignment. Try to find related theory from your textbook or lecture note and apply to your chosen article. For example, if you choose to study on employee job satisfaction, you need to describe (1) how job satisfaction can be defined (or measured) in the organization, (2) what other things are related to job satisfaction, and (3) what leader should know to improve job satisfaction based on what we learn (will learn). For other topics, application should be different from the example above. I am expecting to see at least THREE application points from our course material. This section should be more than 2.5 pages.
IV. Conclusion (15 points)
This is a short paragraph of what you have discussed through the assignment. It should be about 1-2 paragraph and less than a half page.
V. Reference and Appendix (5 points)
This section is not included in your total page. You should include the article you searched with the web address. Also, if possible, you need to copy the article in the appendix, so I can check the article that you searched for the assignment.
