Interim Submission
The final paper describes your experience using an organizational behavior audit as a guide for doing some informal research. The focus of your research is on how
employees experience organizational life. Specifically, how individual, group, and organizational mechanisms impact their job satisfaction and commitment to the
organization. You will be asked to interview at least three people who have a good amount of work experience in public or private, profit or non-profit organizations.
Ideally, the three people you choose should be from the same organization and can report on current conditions.
Course Project – Final Paper ((200 points)
Interim Submission (50 points)
Note: This assignment has two Required Assessment sections for Ethical Reasoning and Action, and Civic and Social Responsibility.
You will have an opportunity to do an informal research project where you will collect information from a variety of sources and relate what you discovered to key
concepts in the course. You will be using the AMA 8 Step method as an overall guide. Due to the nature of the assignment not all of the steps will exactly fit.
However, you will likely touch on several as you: report on the relevant facts, determine problems or issues, generate alternatives for resolving the problems you
discovered, evaluate alternatives, choose the best balanced alternative, develop an implementation plan, and determine how you will measure the impact of your chosen
alternative.
The purpose of the course project is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge ofindividual, group, and organizational mechanisms and how they affect
both the organization and the individuals within it.
Course Project
The final paper describes your experience using an organizational behavior audit as a guide for doing some informal research. The focus of your research is on how
employees experience organizational life. Specifically, how individual, group, and organizational mechanisms impact their job satisfaction and commitment to the
organization. You will be asked to interview at least three people who have a good amount of work experience in public or private, profit or non-profit organizations.
Ideally, the three people you choose should be from the same organization and can report on current conditions.
However, that may be difficult to do so you may interview people from different organizations. Ask your interviewees to focus specifically on a current or former
organization in which they worked. Your task is to determine which mechanisms had the most impact on their job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. If you
interview people from three different organizations, select one organization to write about.
The Organizational Behavior Audit Template will guide you through the interview process. The final paper will be written using APA guidelines. The content will be as
follows:
1. Introduction. – Provide an overview of the project and the process you went through in completing it.
2. Background information – Provide information to the reader about the organizations your interviewees described.
a. Description of the organization – Type of business, sales volume, number of employees, etc.
b. Brief History – Brief chronology of important organizational events.
c. Mission and Vision – Describe the overall focus and direction of the organization.
d. Market and customers – Products or services provided, competition, type of customer, etc.
e. Current performance metrics (Profitability, stock performance, ROE, etc.)
3. Analyze the relevant facts obtained from the interviewees you selected using the Organizational Behavior Audit Template. If you interviewed people from different
organizations, pick one organization to write about.
4. Determine and describe the root problems – Describe both the positive and negative factors that appeared to affect their personal job performance and commitment to
the organization.
5. Select “one” of the negative factors you discovered that you feel would have the most significant impact on improving their job performance and commitment if it
were eliminated or fixed.
6. Generate alternatives – Identify and describe at least three alternatives to eliminate or fix the negative factor you selected.
7. Evaluate alternatives – Evaluate each alternative relative to its strengths and weaknesses.
8. Choose alternative(s) – Select one or more alternatives and discuss them as recommendations.
9. Describe an implementation plan including metrics – Discuss how you would suggest their organizations implement the alternative(s) you selected to improve employee
job performance and commitment. Include the measures you would use to determine the extent to which they were effective.
10. Summary and conclusions – Provide a concise summary and describe your conclusions.
11. References – Provide a list of references in APA format.
Organizational Behavior Audit Template
Course Project
Identify and then interview at least three people who have a good amount of work experience. The Organizational Behavior Audit Template will guide you through the
interview process. The final paper will be written using APA guidelines. Your informal research will focus on the “mechanisms” within an organization which affect job
satisfaction and employee performance.
Organizational mechanisms
Organizational culture
1. What does the term organizational culture mean to you? How would you describe the culture of the organization?
2. What’s it like to work here (or there)?
3. How would you describe the “values” of the organization?
4. What do (or did) people get rewarded for doing?
5. What do (or did) people get in trouble for doing?
Organizational structure
1. How is (or was) the company organized?
2. How formal are (or were) the work rules and procedures?
3. Where in the organizational structure do (or did) important decisions get made? Just at the top or at all levels?
4. In your department, how many people report (or reported) to the supervisor or manager?
5. Is (or was) there a formal “chain of command?” How does (or did) it work?
Group Mechanisms
Leadership
1. How would you describe the practice or behaviors of leaders in this organization?
2. What do (or did) the leaders do to inspire employees to perform at their best?
3. How do (or did) leaders spend their time?
4. Do (or did) leaders focus most on tasks or people?
5. Are (or were) people valued?
Teams
1. Does (or did) the organization utilize formal or informal teams?
2. Is (or was) teamwork encouraged?
3. Are (or were) you a member of a team? If so, how is or was the team working?
4. Are (or were) teams empowered to make important decisions?
5. How do (or did) you or did you feel about working on a team?
Individual Mechanisms
Job Satisfaction
1. How would you describe your overall level of job satisfaction?
2. What factors increased your level of job satisfaction?
3. What factors tended to decrease your level of job satisfaction?
4. If you had to name the one thing that most affects (or affected) your level of job satisfaction, what would that be?
5. Overall, how do (or did) you feel about your job?
Stress
1. Would others describe your job as a high stress or low stress job? Why?
2. Do (or did) you experience stress on the job? If so, what kinds of things cause (or caused) stress in your work environment?
3. When you experience (or experienced) stress what kinds of things do (or did) you do to cope with it?
4. What does (or did) the company do to help employees who experience (or experienced) stress?
5. What kinds of support systems are (or were) available to employees?
Motivation
1. What factors tend to increase and decrease your level of job motivation?
2. Are (or were) rewards distributed fairly within the organization? Please explain.
3. What good things happen (or happened) to you when you perform at a high level in this organization?
4. Are (or were) there any negatives associated with performing at a high level in this organization?
5. What is rewarding to you?
Trust, Justice, and Ethics
1. Are (or were) people treated fairly? Explain.
2. How much trust do (or did) you have in the management team?
3. How much trust do (or did) you have in your supervisor or manager?
4. What happens (or happened) to employees when they make mistakes?
5. Is (or was) ethical behavior expected and encouraged within the organization? Explain.
Learning and Decision Making
1. How are (or were) decisions made within the organization?
2. Do (or did) employees participate in making important decisions? Explain.
3. Is (or was) job experience valued in this organization? Explain.
4. Do (or did) you have opportunities to learn, grow, and develop within the organization? Explain.
5. Is (or was) learning valued in this organization? Explain.
Individual Outcomes
Job Performance
1. How would you describe your overall level of job performance in this organization?
2. From your perspective, what are (or were) some of the factors that affect or affected your overall job performance?
Organizational Commitment
1. How would you describe the level of commitment you have (or had) to stay with this organization for the long term?
2. From your perspective, what are (or were) some of the factors that affect (or affected) your overall commitment to stay with this organization?
Grading Rubric
1. Analyzes the relevant facts using the audit template – Interviews at least three employees using the Organizational Behavior Audit Template.
2. Determines and describes the root problems – Describes both the positive and negative factors that appeared to effect employee job performance and commitment to the
organization. Selects “one” of the negative factors discovered in the interviews that appeared to have the most significant impact on employee job performance and
commitment if it were eliminated or fixed.
3. Generate alternatives – Identifies and describes at least three alternatives to eliminate or fix the negative factor.
4. Evaluate alternatives – Evaluates each alternative relative to its strengths and weaknesses5. Chooses alternative(s) – Selects one or more alternatives and
discusses them as recommendations.
6. Describes an implementation plan including metrics – Discusses the alternatives will be implemented and measured.
7. Uses and references key concepts from the lectures, exercises, chapters, outside readings, etc. in determining the root problem(s), generating and selecting
alternatives, offering recommendations, selecting alternatives, and developing an implementation plan.
Rubric
Factor F D C B A
Analyzes the relevant facts
20 points Very little analysis of the facts. Minimal use of the audit template. Little analysis of the facts. Little use of the audit template. Fairly
thorough analysis of the facts. Some use of the audit template. Good analysis of the facts. Good use of the audit template. Very thorough analysis of the
facts. Outstanding use of the audit template.
Determines and describes the root problem(s)
30 points Does not identify and describe the root problem(s). Minimally identifies and describes the root problem(s). Somewhat clearly identifies and
describes the root problem(s). Quite clearly identifies and describes the root problem(s). Very clearly identifies and describes the root problem(s).
Generates alternatives
30 points Generates unclear and less than reasonable alternatives barely based on course concepts. Generates somewhat unclear and somewhat reasonable
alternatives based on course concepts. Generates somewhat clear and reasonable alternatives based on course concepts. Generates quite clear and reasonable
alternatives based on course concepts. Generates very clear and reasonable alternatives based on course concepts.
Evaluates alternatives
30 points Very little thoroughness displayed in evaluating each alternative. Minimally thorough evaluation of each alternative. Somewhat thorough
evaluation of each alternative. Quite thorough evaluation of each alternative. Very thorough evaluation of each alternative.
Chooses alternatives
30 points Selects a very weak alternative and fails to frame it as a reasonable recommendation. Selects a weak alternative and frames it poorly as a reasonable
recommendation. Selects a fairly good alternative and frames it as a somewhat reasonable recommendation. Selects a good alternative and frames it as a quite
reasonable recommendation. Selects the best balanced choice alternative and frames it as a very reasonable recommendation.
Describes an implementation plan
30 points Incomplete implementation plan and very few impact measures or metrics. Somewhat incomplete implementation plan and few relevant impact measures or
metrics. Fairly complete implementation plan and some relevant impact measures or metrics. Quite complete implementation plan and Quite relevant impact
measures or metrics. Very complete implementation plan and highly relevant impact measures or metrics.
Captures and uses key concepts from the course content
30 points Unclear clear and very few references to course concepts and relevant research material. Somewhat clear and a few references to course concepts
and relevant research material. Fairly clear and some references to course concepts and relevant research material. Quite clear and a good amount of appropriate
references to course concepts and relevant research material. Very clear and many appropriate references to course concepts and relevant research material.
Organizational mechanisms
Organizational culture
1. What does the term organizational culture mean to you? Our facilities values and beliefs; how we treat each other. How would you describe the culture of the
organization? One that is more and more focusing on service, respect, care, and teamwork (our behavioral standards).
2. What’s it like to work here?A respectful, transparent organization
3. How would you describe the “values” of the organization?As our behavioral standards state: service, care, respect, and teamwork
4. What do people get rewarded for doing?Going over and above their job description; taking exceptional care of our patients and/or each other
5. What do people get in trouble for doing?We like to focus on coaching and having purposeful conversations rather than getting “in trouble”. These conversations
begin if policy and/or procedures are not followed.
Organizational structure
1. How is the company organized?We follow an organizational chart and can provide that if needed
2. How formal are the work rules and procedures?Work rules and procedures are formal as patient safety is extremely important and cannot be compromised. We do talk
with each employee and investigate any issue prior to acting on a given situation.
3. Where in the organizational structure do important decisions get made? Just at the top or at all levels?All levels
4. In your department, how many people report to the supervisor or manager?I have 18 leaders reporting to me and collectively these leaders have over 100 employees
reporting to them.
5. Is there a formal “chain of command?” YesHow does it work?Staff to manager to executive
Group Mechanisms
Leadership
1. How would you describe the practice or behaviors of leaders in this organization?Respectful, hardworking, caring
2. What do the leaders do to inspire employees to perform at their best?Lead by example, listen, round on employees
3. How do leaders spend their time?Talking with employees, monitoring best practice, writing policies and procedures, meetings, working on budgets
4. Do leaders focus most on tasks or people? Most leaders try to focus on people and/or tasks that help employees complete their roles
5. Are people valued?Yes, we would not have a hospital without our employees and our patients
Teams
1. Does the organization utilize formal or informal teams?Both
2. Is teamwork encouraged?Yes
3. Are you a member of a team? Yes If so, how is or was the team working? I work with multiple teams and the teams typically have an agenda based on our pillars
(service, quality, people, growth, and finance). Our mission drives the focus of our teams.
4. Are teams empowered to make important decisions?Yes, currently our Rewards and Recognition team is leading our hospital week activities for 2017.
5. How do you or did you feel about working on a team?Teamwork is how we accomplish multiple goals at our facility
Individual Mechanisms
Job Satisfaction
1. How would you describe your overall level of job satisfaction?Very satisfied
2. What factors increased your level of job satisfaction?Challenge, autonomy, great colleagues
3. What factors tended to decrease your level of job satisfaction?In previous roles, lack of teamwork and support
4. If you had to name the one thing that most affects your level of job satisfaction, what would that be?The ability to accomplish our mission to provide exceptional,
compassionate, personalized care to our customers
5. Overall, how do you feel about your job?I am honored and privileges to hold my current role
Stress
1. Would others describe your job as a high stress or low stress job? High stress Why?Leading a healthcare organization in today’s economy is a challenge and many
tough decisions must be made
2. Do you experience stress on the job? SometimesIf so, what kinds of things cause stress in your work environment?Decisions that could be perceived by others as
negative (e.g. cutting hours or staff; enforcing discipline when warranted)
3. When you experience stress what kinds of things do you do to cope with it? Confidentially talk with qualified peers to ensure the correct decisions are made.
Review policy and procedure as well as past practice to ensure the correct action and decision is completed.
4. What does the company do to help employees who experience stress?We listen to our staff and also offer Employee Assistance Programs with licensed psychologists
and/or social workers
5. What kinds of support systems are available to employees?As above along with financial support for an employee if certain qualification are met
Motivation
1. What factors tend to increase and decrease your level of job motivation?
2. Are rewards distributed fairly within the organization? I think so Please explain.We enforce rules fairly and follow our union contracts. We have a rewards and
recognition team that does a great job with monthly employee rewards. We provide employee gifts to all employees during hospital week and Christmas.
3. What good things happen to you when you perform at a high level in this organization? Job promotions, raises, verbal recognition, recipient of a hand-written thank
you note
4. Are there any negatives associated with performing at a high level in this organization?I cannot think of any negatives
5. What is rewarding to you? Working with a great group of employees, accomplishing a challenging task, and having our patients realize great outcomes as a result.
Trust, Justice, and Ethics
1. Are people treated fairly? YesExplain.Our leadership team works hard to follow our union contracts and policies so employees see consistency and feel fairly
treated.
2. How much trust do you have in the management team? I have a very high level of trust in our leadership team.
3. How much trust do you have in your supervisor or manager?I have a very high level of trust for our CEO.
4. What happens to employees when they make mistakes?In most cases, employees have the opportunity to discuss the details and correct the mistake. If a patient is
harmed, the issue is investigated thoroughly and appropriate actions taken.
5. Is ethical behavior expected and encouraged within the organization? Yes Explain.Our employees are treated with dignity and respect
Learning and Decision Making
1. How are decisions made within the organization?Staff meetings are held usually monthly and leaders ask staff for their input. Some decisions must be made by the
leader and shared with staff if the mandate comes from our regulatory body or is a state or federal law.
2. Do employees participate in making important decisions? Yes Explain.As above
3. Is job experience valued in this organization? YesExplain. Those with experience are paid wages reflecting their experience and sometimes offered lead positions.
4. Do you have opportunities to learn, grow, and develop within the organization? Yes Explain.We currently have housekeeping and food and nutrition staff taking
patient access jobs.
5. Is learning valued in this organization?YesExplain. We have a generous tuition reimbursement plan and opportunities for scholarships.
Individual Outcomes
Job Performance
1. How would you describe your overall level of job performance in this organization?I strive daily to give my best and learn something new every day.
2. From your perspective, what are some of the factors that affect or affected your overall job performance?I work with a supportive team and have a very fulfilling
position that works hard with others to save and improve the quality of peoples’ lives.
Organizational Commitment
1. How would you describe the level of commitment you have to stay with this organization for the long term?I hope to retire from this organization.
2. From your perspective, what are some of the factors that affect your overall commitment to stay with this organization? Factors affecting my commitment to stay
with this organization are working with a supportive team that ishonest, respectful, service-oriented, caring, and dedicated to learning, growing, and doing better
work every day.
Michelle Chambers
Organizational culture
1. Organizational culture to me is how an organization wants the public to see them. The organization has policies and values to show the public what they should
expect. Allegan General Hospital has a small town feel. They want the public to feel like they are not just a number and every person matters.
2. I love working at Allegan General Hospital. Everyone is so friendly. You can walk down the hall and everyone you pass says Hello. Employees matter to
Management and it is known.
3. The values for Allegan General Hospital is to always provide excellent, compassionate, and personalized healthcare to the community. We value our patients and
customers. The hospital wants patients to know that we are always here to care about them.
4. People get rewarded for doing good deeds. As employees we are able to nominate people for doing good deeds. If you see someone going above and beyond for a
patient or customer, you can write a committee that we have to say they need recognition.
5. People get in trouble for the way they treat people. Like for instance, if an employee talks to a patient rudely, they can get in trouble for the way they
speak. Here at the hospital, we always have to be kind and considerate.
Organizational structure
1. Allegan General Hospital is organized into departments. There are so many departments to make us successful. Each department has a chain of command.
2. We follow our rules and procedures to the tee. Without our rules, there would be trouble. Our rules and procedures make the hospital run smoothly and without
issues. We are very formal.
3. Important decisions are made all of the hospital. First, the top officials like the CEO and CFO, they meet together to discuss important information and make
decisions if they need to be made. But there are time where the top officials meet with supervisors of every department and discuss it with them too and as a whole.
But it also happens that supervisors meet with all of their employees and discuss what was said at the big meetings and if the employees feel like they have
suggestions, supervisors bring it up during top official meetings.
4. There is somewhere around 50 people that report to the Patient Access supervisor. Then our manager has between 20-30 people report to them. In Patient Access
there is 1 supervisor and 2 managers.
5. Yes there is a formal chain of command. For an employee like me, I would go to my manager first. Then to my supervisor. Then we would go to who our supervisor
reports to. Then there is the CEO.
Leadership
1. All of the leaders are very professional and respectful. All the leaders in this hospital care about all employees and patients.
2. All the leaders are upbeat about all subjects. When we meet, leaders always try and approach everything on a positive note and in a way that is exciting for
us.
3. Leaders spend their time in meetings and in task that benefit the hospital. The leaders have the important jobs of making the hospital successful. They do all
they can to provide an excellent atmosphere.
4. Leaders focus on both tasks and people. They don’t make one more important than the other.
5. The people are valued. They make it known how much they appreciate each and every employee. They provide holiday meals to employees and appreciation lunches.
Teams
1. It depends on the chain of command if there are formal or informal teams. The higher command the more formal it is. On the lower level of command, there teams
are informal.
2. Teamwork is gladly encouraged. They want you to be helpful to others. Working as a team is the key to success.
3. I work by myself most of the time but I do consider myself part of a team. In this team, it is our goal to provide excellent patient access to customers.
4. My team usually doesn’t make the decisions. But we are encouraged to bring new ideas and suggestions to the table.
5. I don’t mind being on a team. But most of the time, I work in an office by myself for most of my shift. But with being on this team, I know that I can go to
any of my teammates for help or questions.
Job Satisfaction
1. My overall satisfaction with my job is high. I love coming into my job every day.
2. The way the individuals I have to report to treat me with respect and appreciation for what I do makes my level of job satisfaction high.
3. When patients are rude and have issues that I didn’t cause are decreases my level of job satisfaction. I have a hard dealing with people that are angry or
upset.
4. One thing that most affects my level of job satisfaction is feeling that I matter. My manager and supervisor do a great job at letting me know that I do a
great job. I excel when I know I’m appreciated.
5. Overall, I am very satisfied with my job. There are hard days and there are good days. But I never dread going into work.
Stress
1. Not every day is a high level or low level stress. Working in Emergency Registration, every day is different. It depends on how busy it is or what kind of
people come in. I would describe it as average level of stress.
2. There are times when you do experience stress in my position. It can be because of how busy it is and not having enough time to do everything. It can be
because of the type of patients that come in. We are people that are really sick, injuries, mental breakdowns, and traumas.
3. When I experience stress, I like to take a break for a minute. If I have time to walk away for a minute, I do. I pull myself away from the stress and get
something to drink or walk around the hospital for a few minutes.
4. When the hospital knows people are stressed, they like to give out free meals or give incentives.
5. There are all kinds of support systems. There are always people to talk to. The hospital even offers free hours to talk to one of our psychologist.
Motivation
1. Factors that increase my level of job motivation is when I’m told that I’m doing a great job, when someone acknowledges how hard I’ve been working, and knowing
that patients are having quality care. Factors that decrease my level of job motivation is when people are rude, when other department employees aren’t the nicest,
and even when patients aren’t appreciative for what you are doing for them.
2. I believe rewards are distributed fairly. Every department gets their recognition. Each department has things that they do to show employees that they are
doing a great job, whether it’s free lunch or free gift cards.
3. There really isn’t anything that really happens when you perform at a high level. They expect you to perform at a high level. Every once in a while you will
get a good job.
4. Sometimes when you are performing at a high level, you don’t get recognized until someone else or yourself says something .
5. Seeing patients smile and real like they are important is what is rewarding to me. The patients are what matter to me. When they have had the upmost service
from all staff members that take care of them.
Trust, Justice, and Ethics
1. Yes everyone is treated fairly. Everyone is from the patients to the employees. Employees are treated with the same standards. We all have the same rules and
expectations. There are no favorites.
2. I have full trust in my management team. They know what they are doing and I trust they will do the right things when it comes to any decisions.
3. I have full trust in my supervisor. She is compassionate about what she does and she truly cares. She isn’t bias nor do I feel like she would lie about
anything.
4. It depends on the mistake that employees make. I haven’t seen any of our employees make a huge mistake. But for most mistakes, employees are asked by the
manager or whoever catches the mistake to simply fix the mistake. It’s usually quick fixes that were missed or wrote wrong. It’s usually not a big deal. If so they
just remind them of the policy or how to do it and that’s it.
5. Yes, when working in a hospital ethical behavior is expected. In a hospital, you see all kinds of people in all kinds of diversity. We have accept people for
how they are and treat all fairly. We have to be honest to each other and to our patients. This is healthcare. Patients expect nothing but ethical behavior.
Learning and Decision Making
1. Decisions are made in upper management. They decide what happens and when policies are made, changed, or revised.
2. Employees are asked about their opinions when it comes to decisions. But ultimately, decisions are made by upper management looking out for the well-being of
the hospital and employees.
3. Yes, job experience is valued in this organization. They hire employees based on experience but it’s not always necessary. For me I have worked at this
hospital for 4 years now but not in the same department. I first started in the kitchen and now I’m in registration. I had experience with the customers that come into
the hospital. I hadn’t any office experience but I did have computer experience. Most of our employees have done or are learning to do their jobs.
4. Yes, this hospital has plenty of opportunities to learn, grow, and develop. There is always something to learn here. Whether you are hired internally by
another department so you can get higher to where you want to be. The hospital provides tuition reimbursements and scholarships if you would like to go to college get
a degree in healthcare. They provide classes that get you certificates that help you grow in your career.
5. In this hospital, learning is absolutely valued. There is always something new to learn every day of the job. They want you to learn. They want you to go back
to school and improve yourself.
Job Performance
1. I would describe my job performance to standard. When they do our yearly evaluations, it takes a lot to be exceptional. I show up every day for my scheduled
shifts. I’m hardly ever late. I pick up shifts that need to be covered. I come in and do my job to its standards. I’m interested in learning new things.
2. From my perspective, feeling that I matter and I am making a difference is what affects me.
Organizational Commitment
1. I love this hospital. I wouldn’t have been here 4 years already if I didn’t. Everyone is so caring and friendly. I can see myself working here for quite a
while.
2. Sometimes, I feel like for what I do I don’t get paid enough. We have excellent benefits and what not. But other than that, I don’t ever feel like I need to
leave.
