A2 MGT 210

REPORT OUTLINE

ASSIGNMENT 1A: REPORT OUTLINE 
 ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN ‘THE OFFICE’

○ Length: 500 words +/- 10% (word count does not include the reference list or tables and figures)

A1A: TASK

a) Analyse employee motivation in ‘The Office’ and b) Provide three recommendations for improving

employee motivation in the given scenario

HOW TO…

● Watch an episode of ‘The Office’ ● Discuss with the group whether employees are

motivated, why you think this is the case, and what factors affect employees’ motivation in this scenario

○ Research the topic of motivation ● Read about relevant OB concepts. Review

relevant journal articles - identify relevant arguments, findings and ideas for the report

● Apply relevant OB concept and theories to the scenario

WHAT IS AN OUTLINE?

○ A purpose of an outline is to describe what will be included in your final report, thus, an outline is: ● A skeleton of the report ● A blueprint or a plan for your report ● A formal system used to think about and organise

your report

If you have a correct map, it can guide you to your destination.

WHAT NEXT?

○ Identify the main goal of the report (e.g. analysis of employee motivation in ‘The Office’)

○ Identify the main OB concepts and themes that you want to cover in the report, and based on this identify the main headings and sub-headings

○ Focus on ideas and arguments that you want to discuss in each section

SAMPLE OUTLINE FORMAT ○ No need to include: Cover page, Table of Contents, Executive

summary and Introduction

○ Section 1: Manager’s effectiveness

○ Section 2: Expectancy theory and employee motivation

○ Section 3: What affects employee motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic motivators)

○ Section 4: Recommendations

○ Reference list

WHAT NEXT?

○ Add brief explanations of key concepts, arguments, research findings for each section so they naturally flow from one to the other

BLANK SAMPLE OUTLINE FORMAT

○ Section 1 A. Main idea: OB concept (e.g. Motivation)

a) Definition/explanation of the concept Motivation is …. (Ref). Having motivated workforce leads

to… (ref). b) Application of the concept to the scenario

Employees in this scenario are (not) motivated…

B. Main idea: OB model a) Model background, elements of the model

Expectancy theory has 3 main components… (Ref) b) Application of the model

Employee motivation in ‘The Office’ is affected by instrumentality…

VISUAL PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION

○ You may use tables and figures to present information in the outline

○ An outline breaks down the parts of your report in a clear, hierarchical manner.

CHECKPOINT

○ Look over your outline and think about whether: ● It matches the main goal of the report (analysis of

employees’ motivation) ● It provides enough evidence to support your points

and arguments ● It covers all the topics you wanted to discuss ● your ideas connect to each other ● Ideas are presented in a logical order

If your outline is good, your report should be easy to write.

○ Assessment criteria

● Conceptual design (the quality of the road map) ● Use of relevant OB concepts and theories ● Referencing relevant literature – use APA6th style of

referencing

Ensure you meet your target grade requirements!

Thank you