15-page term paper

Term Paper

The term paper may be either (1) a political analysis of an actual organization; or (2) a conceptual or theoretical paper on some aspect of power and politics in organizations, covered in more depth than in class, such as political aspects of race or gender in organizations, the politics of board oversight of corporations, or ethical dilemmas in the use of power. Most students choose option 1, which is discussed in the next paragraphs; students interested in option 2 should discuss the topic with me to be sure it is appropriate for the course.

For option 1, the topic should be a real organization. It could be a business firm, a non-profit, a government organization (e.g., the City of Richardson, the Dallas Police Department, the Centers for Disease Control, or some part or agency of the US or a foreign government), UTD, etc., or some part of the organization such as a division or the Dallas or regional office of a larger organization. An important need here is access to information about the organization, which could come from personal knowledge, key informants, press reports, web sites, and/or other sources. Keep in mind that you are unlikely ever to get all the information you would like to have and will need to do the best you can with whatever information you can find; public organizations generally disclose much more information than businesses, which is especially helpful for students who are not employed. Since I will evaluate your paper primarily on your application and use of course material and ideas, it is desirable to choose an organization or part of an organization that has some degree of structural differentiation (multiple subunits rather than work groups) because a substantial portion of the course addresses power issues among structural subunits and their managers.

A general analysis of the organization for some time period is a possibility. Or you may prefer to focus on particular events in the organization, such as a merger, a reorganization, a change in leadership, or the handling of a crisis.

The paper should include (1) a diagnosis of power at some level of the organization, using the matrix approach presented in class, with a brief description of your methodology (if the paper focuses on an event, a “before and after” diagnosis may be useful) and a discussion in appropriate places of how your diagnosis is related to other aspects of your paper; (2) a discussion of political strategies and tactics used by organizational subunits and/or managers; (3) other class-related issues as relevant, such as political dynamics, sources of power, and conditions for the use of power; and (4) recommendations for how some person(s) – this could be you – or subunits could have better managed their political situation or could do so in the future. Recommendations should be linked to the analysis presented in the paper.

There is no specified page requirement. I’ve seen great ten-page papers, and poor ones that were much longer. The average has been around 15 pages, not counting attachments. The paper should be double spaced in font size 12 with one-inch margins, printed on only one side of the page, and stapled in the upper left-hand corner (no covers or binders). All papers will be treated as strictly confidential, and will be returned only under specific instructions from you; papers not picked up will be stored securely for some time and then destroyed.