Additional IMPORTANT instructions attached. The topic of the final paper is “The Learning Organization.”
There is no specified minimum length for this paper; it should be long enough to cover the subject, yet short enough to hold your readers’ attention and interest. In most cases, 12-15 content pages (exclusive of title page, and references) should be appropriate; however, papers can be longer depending on the context.
A minimum of 10 different sources must be used in the research for this paper.
See the attached rubric for grading information.
The student must effectively research and use the 5 pillars of a learning organization as defined by Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline (personal mastery, systems thinking, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning) as the major content areas of the paper.
Your paper will be segmented into four sections:
The first section should be titled, “Literature Review of the Learning Organization.” Incorporate the Literature Review you did in week 2, although you should take the opportunity to revise and improve it. This section will be an exploration and review of the concept of the learning organization. The sources you reference in the literature review should substantially show up throughout the paper, although not every one will necessarily apply.
The second section should be titled, “Evaluation of Learning Organization Pillars Within [your company name].” This section of the paper should be an analysis of your current workplace as to the degree of compliance with the learning organization model. Specifically define each incongruence you find and its link to each pillar. Since all workplaces are different, you may find that your employer is strong in some pillars and weak in others. You must comment on all the areas, but you may spend the bulk of your evaluation on the weaker areas.
The third section should be titled, “Recommended Final Solution(s) to Identified Problem(s).” This section should contain your suggestions and recommendations for the changes that need to be made to create a “learning” atmosphere in your workplace. Each change you suggest must be supported by a theory from the main organizational behavior text as a justification for the change. The paper should also present/discuss proposed strategies for developing and maintaining an organizational culture that promotes continuous learning.
The fourth section should be titled, “Reflections on Learning.” In this section you will answer the following two questions:
How has this course affected your ability to integrate business concepts and principles with your faith?
How has your perception of and relationship with your employer changed since the beginning of this course?
Within each area, the students must
Effectively research and explain the content area.
Critically evaluate the organizations for which they currently work based on the content area.
The areas to be evaluated in this component are those that correlate highly with the content areas of the Organizational Behavior text.
Develop a plan of action to remedy those areas found to be deficient within their organizations. For example, a student would first read and research the pillar of systems thinking and write a literature component for the paper. Second, the student would analyze his/her corporation for systems alignment. The student might find that his/her company has compensation systems/motivation alignment problems. The student would go on to explain that the company recently shifted from an individual assembly line to self-managed work teams. However, the compensation system still rewards workers only based on individual work rather than any work completed within the new team structure. Therefore, according to operant conditioning, the employees see no benefit in changing to the new system, thus causing tremendous resistance to change. The student would formulate a remedial plan that includes: (1) changing the compensation system to reward individuals partially for team work and partially for individual work; and (2) directives for middle and top managers to overcome the resistance to the change via communication, facilitation, and support programs designed to inform and empower those affected by the change.
The above example would obviously be more detailed through both situational explanations and thorough explanations of the interlocking theories. The process would then repeat itself for the other 4 pillars of a learning organization. The outcome will be a comprehensive assessment of both the student’s organization and the student’s ability to apply the knowledge gained in the course.
The student must include a “Reflections on Learning” section, which details the student’s learning progress in the course. Please see the student instructions for details in Components for Course Evaluation.
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