Final Paper for Organizational Communication class

COM 250: Intro to Organizational Communication

FINAL PAPER: Company Profile

You will select a company to profile. This could be a company that is admired because of their business practices, a company that has recently experienced a great amount of change, a company that has received negative press, etc. You will “profile” this company using the approaches discussed in class (classical, human relations, systems, critical, etc.).

You will be responsible for writing a 3-5 page company profile paper that examines this organization. The paper should include a brief summary of the company (locations, home office, size, vision, etc.) followed by a description of how the organizational practices can be described/explained using the various approaches. Examples should be specific and cited (company website, interview with employees or management, etc.) For example, you might select McDonalds Restaurants and describe how the organization focuses on consistency across all of the restaurants using classical approaches to organization and a focus on systems.

The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of questions that are applicable for your profile paper:

• Are the policies and processes of this organization more closely related to one approach than another? If so, which one?

• How does the organization present itself to the public? Which approach is this closest to and why?

• How does the company handle change, make decisions, deal with conflict, address issues of diversity, etc.?

• What are the organization’s plans for managing work processes to match changing environments, customer bases, and technology?

Final Paper

The final paper consists of the following sections:

1. Introduction ½ page

This section introduces the organization and the goal of the paper. Give background information of the organization (size, location(s), organizational structure, etc.). Provide a one-sentence preview of the paper – “In this paper I will evaluate the following…”.

1. Discussion/Analysis 2-4 pages

Using the language of the class, 2-3 work process (conflict, diversity, leadership, etc.) are selected and evaluated. The analysis includes a review of which approaches are most familiar within these processes. Use level 1 APA style headers to separate topics.

1. Conclusion ½ page

Thoroughly summarizes the paper.

Grading Rubric

Introduction (10 points)

/3pts - Introduced the organization and why this organization was chosen

/4pts - Provided detail of organization (location, size, org. structure, etc.)

/3pts - Included a preview of the paper

Discussion/Analysis (25 points)

/12.5pts - Described each of the selected work processes

/12.5pts - Analyzed each work process using course material

Conclusion (10 points)

/10pts - Summarized the paper thoroughly

Grammar/Formatting (5 points)

/.5pt - No more than 5 pages (not inc. cover page)

/1pt - APA format (1” margins, double-space, size 12 font)

/.5pt - APA first level headers between sections and topics

/1pt - APA citations, if necessary

/.5pt - Transitions between main sections

/1.5pts - Grammar/spelling

TOTAL _____/50

Tips

The paper needs to follow professional/academic standards. Points will be deducted for improper construction, spelling, and grammar.

• When citing the textbook use the page number(s) as the citation in text.

  • For quotes use quotation marks and the page number in parenthesis after the quote but before the period: “Here is a quote” (p.12).

  • For paraphrase place the page number in parenthesis after the paraphrase: I am now paraphrasing from the text (p.12).

• Number the pages of the paper.

• Use 12 pt. Times New Roman or Arial font.

• Double-space the text (check for extra space between paragraphs).

• Use 1” margins (check your page setup settings to ensure these margins).

• Use Level 1 APA headers to separate main sections.

  • https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

• Make transition sentences between main points.

• Use proper English grammar.