Organizational Behavior Research Paper

Topics in Organizational Behavior

To complete the Article Research Paper due in Week 11, please select a topic from the list provided below or from the chapter readings.
Managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.
The three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.
Developing managers’ interpersonal skills also helps organizations attract and keep highperforming employees.
Motivation and work performance
Leader behavior and power and work performance
Interpersonal communication and work performance
Group structure and processes and work performance
Attitude development and perception and work performance
Change processes and work performance
Conflict and negotiation and work performance
Work design and work performance
Positive organizational scholarship
Workplace discrimination undermines diversity effectiveness.
Stereotypes function in organizational settings.
Key biographical characteristics and organizational behavior (OB).
The relevance of intellectual and physical abilities to OB.
How organizations manage diversity effectively.
The relationship between age and job performance
Race and ethnicity on employment outcomes such as hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination.
The components of an attitude.
Relationship between attitudes and behavior.
Major Job attitudes.
Approaches for measuring job satisfaction.
Main causes of job satisfaction.
Employee responses to dissatisfaction.
Differentiate between emotions and moods.
Sources of emotions and moods.
The impact emotional labor has on employees
Emotional intelligence.
Strategies for emotion regulation.
Personality, the way it is measured, and the factors that shape it.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality framework and the Big Five model
The concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE), self-monitoring, and proactive personality contribute to the understanding of personality.
Personality predicts behavior.
Terminal and instrumental values.
Person-job fit and person-organization fit.
Hofstede’s five value dimensions and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) framework.
Factors that influence perception.
Attribution theory.
Link between perception and decision making.
Rational model of decision making with bounded rationality and intuition.
How individual differences and organizational constraints affect decision making.
The three-stage model of creativity.
Key elements of motivation.
Early theories of motivation.
Self-determination theory and goal-setting theory.
Self-efficacy theory, reinforcement theory, equity theory, and expectancy theory.
Employee job engagement for managers.
Job characteristics model (JCM) and changing the work environment.
Variable-pay programs and employee motivation.
Intrinsic motivational benefits of employee recognition programs.
Punctuated-equilibrium model of group development.
Norms and individual’s behavior.
Status and size and group performance.
Issues of cohesiveness and diversity and group effectiveness.
Strengths and weaknesses of group decision making.
Continued popularity of teams in organizations.
Team arrangements.
Characteristics of effective teams.
How organizations can create team players.
Functions and process of communication.
Downward, upward, and lateral communication through small-group networks and the grapevine.
Oral, written, and nonverbal communication.
Automatic and controlled processing of persuasive messages.
Common barriers to effective communication.
How to overcome the potential problems of cross-cultural communication.
Trait theories of leadership.
The central tenets and main limitations of behavioral theories.
Contingency theories of leadership.
Contemporary theories of leadership and their relationship to foundational theories.
Roles of leaders in creating ethical organizations.
How leaders can have a positive impact on their organizations through building trust and mentoring. 
Challenges to our understanding of leadership.
Research Paper: This is a graduate course and students will be expected to research and write papers summarizing in their own words what they have found on current topics from the weekly readings. Research is a theoretical review of relevant literature and application of findings in the
literature to a topic related to a specific industry, field, or business problem. The research must be conducted using peer-reviewed trade or academic journals. While Blogs, Wikipedia, encyclopedias, course textbooks, popular magazines, newspaper articles, online websites, etc. are helpful for providing background information, these resources are NOT suitable resources for this research assignment.
Please Note: The UC Library staff are very helpful with assisting students in using the UC Online Library journal database. Please contact them if you have issues. In addition, the instructor has provided additional resources, including a research tutorial, in the “Course Resources” folder in the “Content” area of the course.
Assignment Requirements:
i. Choose a research topic from the chapter readings or from the list provided by your professor.
ii. Research/find a minimum at least four (4), preferably five (5) or more, different peerreviewed articles on your topic from the University of the Cumberlands Library online
business database. The article(s) must be relevant and from a peer-reviewed source. While you may use relevant articles from any time frame, current/published within the last five (5) years are preferred. Using literature that is irrelevant or unrelated to the chosen topic will result in a point reduction.
iii. Write a four (4) to five (5) page double spaced paper in APA format discussing the findings on your specific topic in your own words. Note - paper length does not include cover page, abstract, or references page(s).
iv. Structure your paper as follows:
a. Cover page
b. Overview describing the importance of the research topic to current business and professional practice in your own words.
c. Purpose of Research should reflect the potential benefit of the topic to the current business and professional practice and the larger body of research.
d. Review of the Literature summarized in your own words. Note that this should not be a “copy and paste” of literature content, nor should this section be substantially filled with direct quotes from the article. A literature review is a summary of the major points and findings of each of the selected articles (with appropriate citations). Direct quotations should be used sparingly. Normally, this  will be the largest section of your paper (this is not a requirement; just a general observation).
e. Practical Application of the literature. Describe how your findings from the relevant research literature can shape, inform, and improve current business and professional practice related to your chosen topic.

Grading Criteria:
Content Knowledge & Structure (25 points): All of the requested components are completed as assigned; content is on topic and related to organizational behavior, critical thinking is clearly demonstrated (few, if any, direct quotations from the source in the paper); scholarly research is demonstrated; topics and concepts gained from the assigned reading and/or from research is evident.
Critical Thinking (15 points): Demonstrates substantial critical thinking about topics and solid interpretation of materials and reflection.
Clarity & Effective Communication (15 points): Communication is clear, concise, and well presented; scholarly writing is demonstrated; grammar, sentence structure, writing in third person, and word choice is used correctly.
Integration of Knowledge & Articles (15 points): Articles used are current and relevant (preferably published within last five (5) years and MUST be from peer-reviewed journal article publications. At least four (4) peer-reviewed journal articles are examined and analyzed in the paper.
Presentation & Writing Mechanics (30 points): Cover page, headings, in-text citations, page citations (page number citations required for specific information such as dates, years, list of items from article, names, numbers, statistics, and other specific information), and references are properly formatted.