Week 4 Assignment 1

Application: Motivating Employees

Having read this week’s assigned readings, you are now familiar with various theories and approaches to motivating employees. Consider your current job, a job you have had in the past, or one you know well, and then complete the Assignment.

Submit by Day 7 a 300- to 700-word paper which answers all of the following questions:

• What motivational techniques, methods, or strategies does (or did) your current or past employer use to try to keep employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
• What worked and didn’t work to keep you productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?
• What motivational theories explain why your employer’s efforts worked or didn’t work to keep their employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
• Based on your experiences and the readings, what would you recommend that your current or past employer do to try to keep their employees productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?

Application Assignments must be in APA style and format.

Week 4 Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources.

Required Resources

Readings

• Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2014). Essentials of contemporary management (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
  • Chapter 7, “Designing Organizational Structure” (pp. 222–257)

    This chapter addresses the different ways of structuring an organization. The authors emphasize the ways in which environmental, technology, and human factors can and should influence the choice of organizational structure. This discussion flows into an explanation of designing jobs, grouping jobs, and then forming divisions within an organization that may be based on functional, geographic, product, or market areas. The criteria and variations in global structures are also discussed. Finally the authors explain the establishment of lines of authority, communication, and collaboration.

    Focus on the definitions and concepts provided throughout this chapter. Think about an organization that you have been a part of or are familiar with. Did that organization appear to have been rationally organized to achieve specific criteria? Were responsibilities clearly delineated? Were there unnecessary obstacles to communication or collaboration? Was technology adapted to the organization’s design, or was the organization’s structure adapted to take advantage of new technology? Was the structure of the organization truly efficient and effective? Did the organization’s structure influence the productivity and morale of employees? How might you go about changing the structure of that organization?

  • Chapter 8, “Control, Change, and Entrepreneurship” (pp. 258–295)

    This chapter addresses the importance of organizational control and of designing a control process, as well as how technology and the establishment of control systems can facilitate organizational control. Two categories of control processes are examined. (1) “Output control” focuses on quantitative indicators of output, production, quality, satisfaction, and the achievement of goals, objectives, and targets. (2) “Behavior control” focuses on directing and influencing the behavior of employees and groups of employees through the use of goals, objectives, policies, procedures, rules, boundaries, and direct supervision. Lastly, control is discussed as an important element of change management and of entrepreneurship.

    Focus on the definitions and concepts provided throughout this chapter. Think about an organization that you have been a part of or are familiar with. Did the managers and supervisors have effective control over their areas of responsibilities? When the managers and supervisors wanted something changed or done, did this get changed or done in an efficient manner? Did the managers and supervisors really know what was occurring within their areas of responsibilities? Were there clear standards of performance and personal conduct, and how were these standards monitored and enforced? Were there goals, objectives, or targets for all functional areas? Was progress toward those goals, objectives, or targets continually monitored?

  • Chapter 9, “Motivation” (pp. 296–325)

    This chapter addresses the nature of human motivation and introduces you to various theories that explain various aspects of motivation. Those theories include the family of “needs” theories, as well as expectancy theory, equity theory, goal-setting theory, and two learning theories. The chapter ends with a discussion of various ways in which money, in the form of compensation, has been used to influence employees’ behavior and performance.

    Focus on the definitions and concepts provided throughout this chapter. Try to see how each of the theories complements the other theories. Ask yourself, what does each motivational theory contribute to your understanding of human motivation? What are the differences and the relati

Everyone has personal biases and stereotyped beliefs to some degree. It is critical to identify our beliefs and challenge ourselves to grow in order to most effectively serve our clients.

Tasks:

Describe your personal beliefs about aging with respect to physical, cognitive, and psycho social domains. Which aspects of aging do you view positively? Which aspects do you view negatively? What influences your belief system? If you identify a negative stereotype related to aging or older adults, identify one activity you could engage in to increase your understanding of this stage in the life span.

Note: Express your honest beliefs in this assignment; however, keep in mind that respectful language and terminology must be used at all times.

Submission Details:

• By Saturday, February 6, 2016, post your responses to this Discussion Area in a minimum of 200 words. Your response should rely upon at least two sources from professional literature. This may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA format); and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Based on what you have learned as a university student, including information and ideas gathered from the Week One and Week Three readings and discussions about general education, write a brief journal entry (350- 500 words) in which you will

• Explain newly-developed skills as well as other learning opportunities acquired through your university experience.
• Describe where and how you acquired the necessary skills that helped you excel through the progression of your education. Be sure to include examples.
• Develop a plan illustrating how you plan to transfer those skills into everyday life.
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills by effectively communicating ideas or points clearly, thoroughly, and accurately

Consumer Health Choices and Behaviors

Manufacturing and pharmaceutical are two types of firms that aggressively market the over-the-counter or prescription drugs they produce. This Discussion will focus on the impact that marketing strategies have on consumers as well as address your own purchasing experiences.

To prepare for this Discussion, visit the Walden Library and find two articles about consumer buying habits that address the following questions.

• Do consumers base their product choices on price, brand, or research findings?
• Are there variations with respect to demographics?

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

• How does health literacy influence consumer choices and behaviors?
• Provide an example of how marketing, the media, and your level of health literacy has impacted at least one choice you’ve made as a health consumer.
• Offer 2-3 examples of how health literacy of individuals and the nation may be improved.

I live in Seattle Washington!!!

Assignment 2: Recycling, Reducing, and Reusing

In the Working Ahead section in Modules 1, 2, and 3, you were informed to collect items to be recycled and log a journal of these items. You were also instructed to select either Module 2 or Module 3 to collect these items.

Your assignment in this module is to submit your weeklong Recycling Journal, along with an analysis of your recycling efforts and an examination of the recycling process.

Be sure to examine what you have recycled in your chosen week and estimate how many grocery sacks of material you recycled—try to estimate the size. Results showing who recycled the most material will be posted by your facilitator in Module 5.

For this assignment, complete the following:

Part 1

Review your Recycling Journal for the week you selected. Write a report that covers the next two parts of this assignment.

Part 2

Based on what you identified as recyclable in one week and using this data, estimate how much garbage your entire locality or city could prevent sending to the landfill. Include the following:

• What is the total population of your community? You may use reliable Internet resources to identify this information.
• If everyone in your community recycled as much trash as you did for one week, how much garbage could your area recycle? To calculate this number, you can use your number and multiply it by the number of people in your community.
• How much trash could your community save in a year? To calculate this number, multiply the weekly estimate for your community by the number of weeks in a year.
• Do you think your community recycles enough? How can the US Government place more importance on recycling?

Part 3

Examine the process of recycling. Include the following:

• Explain how recycled material is reused.
• Describe what happens to recycled cans, bottles, and newspapers after they go to the recycling bin.
• Examine the impact you have on creating renewed resources from these recycled items.

Support your statements with appropriate examples and scholarly references.

Write a 4–5-page report in Word format. Submit the report, along with your recycling journal. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M4_A2.doc.

By Wednesday, February 3, 2016, submit the report, along with your recycling journal to the M4: Assignment 2 Dropbox.