Research Paper

he required field research project is an opportunity to conduct an in-depth study of an organization using the theories and concepts from the class. Pick an organization that you are curious about, visit the organization (may be done in person or virtually), observe the organization in action, and develop an analysis of the organizational structure based on the material in the Handel text, for example, see the Analysis of Six Structural Profiles on pages 68-69.

When selecting an organization avoid using your work organization for two reasons, 1) challenges of objectivity, and 2) previous use of this organization in your first essay.) An important consideration for selecting an organization for analysis is the available access you have to a person in that organization. You can use online source material to learn about the organization, and may email public information officers or other people who work there to ask for information or phone interviews. You are not required to visit the organization, nor to interview its workers; however these are good ways to learn about the organization, so you are encouraged to do so.

Describe Resources Dependency Theory and the three factors that determine the dependence of one organization on another. Apply these factors to hypothetical clothing manufacturers (NOT STORES). Think about how clothing manufacturers would get raw material, labor, distribution of its products, etc. You can use examples of several clothing manufacturers (again, not clothing stores) in your analysis, but keep the analysis general and comprehensive.

To make the work more manageable, the project can been conceptualized in four parts.

1-Organizational Culture: identify and define the key aspects of organizational culture and other critical features of the organization, including environment, resources, history and purpose/strategy;

2-Organizational Structure: identify and define the key organizational components including tasks, individuals, formal organizational arrangements, and informal organizational arrangements;

3-Organizational Diagnosis: utilizing your previous assessments of culture and structure, prepare an organizational analysis, identifying the purpose, nature and type of the organization and its symptoms and actions;

4-How does this organization fit within the larger social structure in terms of gender, race, class and political power?

The text/body of the research paper should be 6 full pages in length, not including the title page, abstract or bibliography – all of which are required; use APA formatting. Papers must include at least six (6) academic and professional references; one must be your textbook. Two (2) references must be research articles from peer-reviewed journals. You may use two (2) primary source documents from the company. You may use (1) non-peer reviewed source such as an organization’s magazine, website, or other published material.

Avoid including personal perspectives in the assignment. This is just an objective analysis. As the assignment instructions say, avoid first person usage (we, us, etc.). You don’t say the name of the organization anywhere, you just refer to “this organization.”

Textbook The Sociology of Organizations: Classic, Contemporary, and Critical Readings by Michael J Handel