In this paper, you are to construct/reconstruct and critically analyze a case of organizational
phenomenon, practice, issue, problem, or crisis using theories/concepts learned in this course.
You may reconstruct the case based on your personal experience in an organization or study of
organizational stories that circulate in the public sphere. Whatever case you construct, you
should explain why it is important for examining from an organizational communication
perspective. The focus of your study could be an issue, problem, or phenomenon like the ones
discussed in Chapters 7-13 of the Munby and Kuhn textbook.
Introduction
a. Creatively arrest the attention of your readers.
b. Introduce the topic and purpose of your study (like the lead of a news story in
which you answer 5Ws +1H): Present a thesis statement or state your research
question(s).
c. Establish your ethos (what makes you a credible author of this study?)
d. Connect with your readers. Say how this study might benefit them.
e. Preview the structure of the paper.
Brief Lit Review (Alt. for, the Rationale for the study, or Significance of the Study)
a. Start with an overview of your literature review.
b. Review 2-to-5 academic journal articles (sum up and critique their
findings/conclusions; the purpose of a lit review is to highlight what we have
already known about the subject, so you do not have to ‘reinvent the wheel’).
c. Answer: Identify the knowledge gap (What do these studies leave you or your
readers wanting to know more?), and how can your research fill that void?
d. Sum up your lit review and argue for the significance of your research focus or
your research questions.
Theory and Method
a. Explain theories or theoretical concepts you are to use in this analysis.
b. Explain how you have done the study (i.e., how did you gather, store, and analyze
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‘data’ for your research?).
Options:
i. Fieldwork (observation and interviews with members of an organization)
ii. Textual study (review/critique of a documentary/book on the organization)
iii. Virtual ethnography—following the organizational events electronically
including interviewing its members.
iv. A combination of those described above (in i and ii).
c. Briefly mention the theories or concepts you use in your analysis.
The Case Analysis
a. This section is the main body of your paper.
b. Present the case—the story—and systematically theoretically analyze it.
c. Describe what you found and explain what they mean in theoretical terms (i.e.,
connect findings to theories/concepts or literature you reviewed; use concepts
learned in the course to explain what you mean).
d. Italicize or use boldfaced fronts for the course concepts you use in your
analysis. Make sure you define each concept briefly in a sentence or two.
e. Thematize your analysis (discuss in terms of several themes, which you present
as sub-subheads or topic sentences leading the paragraphs of this section).
Conclusion
a. Briefly summarize what you have written above.
b. In a couple of sentences, reflect on your study’s limitations and how you tried
to minimize their impact on your analysis.
c. Identify what the key takeaways from this study are.
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