ACED 4810 Workforce Field Study Assignment

Each student must conduct a field study about any workplace of his/her choice.

Purpose: Each setting has its own unique organizational structure, culture, and approaches in dealing with issues related to employees. This assignment is designed to accomplish the following objectives:

• Develop professional awareness through visitation.
• Develop and sharpen skills to evaluate and suggest improvements when dealing with performance issues in the workplace.
• Challenge perceived assumptions about workplace culture.

Directions:

You are asked to write a complete report of your visitations, observations, and interview(s) on a specific workplace of your choice. The report should include the following components:

Introduction (1 pt)

The introduction should describe the specific objective and important theories or concepts underpinning your field study. The introduction should also describe the nature of the organization or setting where you are conducting the observation, what your focus was, what you observed, and the methods you used for collecting the data. (You may wish to write the introduction last.)

Description of Workplace (4 pts)

Describe the type of business, its location, its contribution to the local community, hours of operation. (1 pt)

BUSINESS: MillerCoors, Albany, GA

HOURS: 24/7, Business Office Hours: 7-3:30

Contributions: Visit the website to find this information

Describe the products or services of the workplace/company/industry. (1 pt)

State the number of employees and describe the employee composition – ethnicity, gender, age, credentials/ranks, etc. (1 pt)

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 554 at the Albany, GA

Describe and explain the working atmosphere or conditions of the work environment. (1 pt)

Description of Workplace Culture (12 pts)

Describe the working relationships among the employees; describe employees’ relationship with customers; describe employees’ relationship with upper level management/administration. (3 pts)

Describe the types of support the employees receive from the management including any professional development programs (training, counseling, coaching, mentoring, etc,). Explain their effectiveness and efficiency from the perspective of the employees and supervisor/manager. (3 pts)

Describe a minimum of two types of employee performance problems experienced in the workplace, the measures taken by the employer to reduce or prevent each problem from occurring again, and explain whether the measures implemented were effective. (2 pts)

Describe the management/supervision approaches; explain the implementation of the negative and positive reinforcements and/or other approaches in order to improve human performance. Give specific examples. (2 pts)

Describe two examples of conflict in the workplace and explain the conflict resolution approaches utilized; explain the effectiveness of the approaches in reducing or resolving conflicts. (2 pts)

Recommendations (2 pts)

Provide at least two of YOUR OWN suggestions or recommendations to improve or resolve any workplace problems or conflict.

Conclusion (1 pt)

The conclusion should briefly recap of the entire study, reiterating the importance or significance of your observations. Avoid including any new information. Be sure to describe any unanticipated problems you encountered and note the limitations of your study. The conclusion should not be more than two or three paragraphs.