Parachute paper
Goal: Analyze the behavior of an organization at the four zoom-levels.
Premise: You enter or parachute into an organization and describe the behavior using the concepts from the course. This analytical paper explains how you observe and orient in this new environment and understand the organizations behavior.
In addition to above Writing Assignments section and the relevant Course Policies
Address in your paper the deeper currents of culture as well as how processes, systems and mission drive behaviors. In addition to specifically incorporating a wide variety of OB distinctions from the course, the paper should also address distinctions of leadership, motivation, communications, and ethics. The paper must analyze (not merely describe) the organizations behavior from each zoom level: individual, group, organization, and external.
Other than the general format guidelines in this syllabus, how you format this paper is up to you. You might be effective in first-person or third-person. You must think deeply about this topic and what you have learned during the course to creatively accomplish the goal.
When writing about the individual zoom level, do not pick yourself as a subject. When writing about the group zoom level, choose one group or a selection or representational groups.
This is a final paper and should draw upon and synthesize concepts, distinctions, and major themes from the entire course. You may use an organization you have experience with or research one where you would like to work. Most students choose a previous co-op. Ideally, from reading this paper, I should have the experience of being there with you and gain a valuable understanding of this organizations behavior. The exercise of writing this paper will hopefully create a template you can use for analyzing future organizations, avoiding organizational pitfalls, and more quickly make a valuable contribution.
