Question.854 - Theory Paper #2: Organization Profile Theory Paper #2: Organization Profile Purpose: To apply theory to the way you assess an organization to support an objective and critical approach. Overview: Write a description of an organization of which you would like to be a member. Examples could include an organization that is admired because of their business practices, an organization that has recently experienced a great amount of change, an organization that has received negative press, etc. Specifics: --Name the organization. --Describe the organization: business category (what do they do, make, sell, etc.) locations, home office, size, vision, mission, how many employees, etc. --Illustrate two of the **organizational practices. Describe/explain each practice by using a specific theory from the course learning material. **Examples of organizational practices: onboarding, exiting, diversity initiatives, addressing conflict, addressing change, communication structure, decision making, work/life balance, social presence, technology integration, leadership, Power, group process --End the organization profile highlighting two of your personality characteristics that would be a good fit for this organization. All papers should have a clear introduction of 3-5 sentences that introduces the topic and previews the paper. Following the introduction, you should write at least one paragraph per main point, or question asked in the assignment instructions. The last paragraph needs to be a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the paper and ends with impact. Some tips: --use APA style for paper (no need for title page, DO include a References page) --paragraphs are generally 5-7 sentences --one-inch margins, double-spaced --introduction should include a thesis and a preview of the main points of the paper --conclusion should include a summary and concluding statement --transitional sentences should be included --identifying information should include name, date, course, assignment, page numbers --be sure to include section headings and sub-heading to highlight the main points (questions) **see grading rubric in the submission link in this module
Answer Below:
Theory Paper #2: Organization Profile Jessica Ho-sang Arizona State University COM 250: Communication & the Workplace Suzanne Atkin February 23rd, 2023 Theory Paper #2: Organization Profile Name of the organization: Feeding America Purpose and Overview Feeding American is a non-profit organization. The primary objective or purpose of the organization is to serve as a hunger relief organization in the United States by assisting the people with food and eradicating hunger and poverty in the nation (Feeding America, n.d.a). Considering their operational cues, they tend to operate as a network of food banks that thrives on serving undermined local communities and those who are insecure about food in the United States. The network works in a distributed manner, such as gathering good food from various resources and distributing them across the United States in terms of working with local food banks (Feeding America, n.d.b). Based on the information presented on their official website, they partner with various credible food banks working with advocacy to end hunger and food insecurities in the nation. Feeding America's mission is to eradicate hunger and food insecurity across the United States, and its vision is to achieve a hunger-free society. The headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois. According to their official website, they have established an operational network in all 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia (Feeding America, n.d.b). In distinction, their network comprises an approximate count of 200 food banks and around 60,000 food pantries, in addition to varying meal programs and interventions that engage with diverse volunteers across the globe to accomplish their mission (Feeding America, n.d.c). According to the Feeding America (2021) reports, they had partnered with over two million volunteers with an internal employee count of over 1,000 employees (Feeding America, n.d.d). Specifics Considering the organizational practice, the first one is volunteer engagement. The operational cues of the organization tend to rely heavily on the engagement with volunteers to help with various services. According to their website, some of the services that volunteers are needed for our food sorting, packaging, and network handling in terms of distribution. According to the reports from Feeding America, in the year 2016, the organization worked with over two million volunteers who contributed over 8.4 million service hours (Feeding America, n.d.). Volunteers' engagement is one of the factors that enable the firm to function smoothly toward its vision. Considering the Communication Accommodation Theory, which implies how people tend to adapt to various styles of communication in accordance to match the behavioral cues of those surrounding them (Dragojevic et al., 2015). When considering the volunteer engagement of Feeding America, it tends to align with the Communication Accommodation Theory. Both the stakeholders, be it the organization or the volunteer, have to alter their communication styles in accordance to match with the behavior of those they work with. While for the organization, it will be towards training the volunteers to match the mission and how to participate in food sorting and distribution activities. With the communication accommodation theory approach with the volunteers, the organization can achieve the intended objective in the short term by motivating the volunteers and assisting them to participate in the organizational activities. Considering the second practice, food networking. The organization operates with various local food distribution and other partners to produce food. The organization relies heavily on food sources to ensure a steady supply is underway to the local food banks for distribution. From the reports of Feeding America, the organization tends to feed around an average of four million hungry mouths every year with its food network. Considering the resource dependency theory by Pfeffer and Salancik (1978), who explained how management conflict could be resolved using appropriate mediation since the organization's operational cues depend on the external environment to survive to achieve their goals. Feeding America inclines toward an external supply of food resources to run their food network, which involves various levels of communication and conflicts; Pfeffer states that using the resource dependency theory and the relational dialectics theory with good and clear communication amongst stakeholder's positive interpersonal cues can be developed in order to sustain the flow of food by developing a good relationship with the volunteers and ensuring supply across the United States. Considering Feeding America and the personality characteristics that could fit the job role would be empathy which gives an individual the ability to comprehend the feelings of others since this organization relies heavily on the various levels of communication. Considering the hypothesis given by Batson (1991) about empathy-altruism, the study showed that an individual who is high on empathy tends to enable and engage in better conversations with minimal possibilities of conflict. In Feeding America, empathic behavioral cues would serve as a potential benefit to communicate with various diverse cultured volunteers and other food supplier stakeholders in terms of understanding the opposite parties' needs and providing effective solutions towards achieving the common objective. Secondly, openness to experience shows the person's willingness to explore new things and embrace unconventional ideas. This creative mindset will help non-profit organizations in terms to adapt to more innovative thinking. In the organization Feeding America, creative thinking could be applied to food networking, establishing an open forum where stakeholders are involved in pitching in various ideas and suggestions, such as creating an inclusive environment that fosters effective communication. Considering the research by Bandura (1977), which explored the social learning theory and produced the outcome, people learn and adapt by observing the behavior of others, and knowingly or unknowingly, they tend to imitate them. With openness to experience or exploring creative thinking, newer and comprehensive solutions will be brought to the table to solve food insecurity and hunger. References (n.d.a). About us. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us(n.d.b). Contact us. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/contact-us(n.d.c). Where we serve. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/our-network(n.d.d). Our team. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/our-team(n.d.e). Our vision. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/our-visionAbout us. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-usAmabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(2), 357-376. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.2.357 Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward a social-psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. dependence perspective. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Dragojevic, M., Gasiorek, J., & Giles, H. (2015). Communication accommodation theory. The international encyclopedia of interpersonal communication, 1-21. Feeding America. (2017). The power of volunteering. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/2017_the_power_of_volunteering_0.pdfFeeding America. (n.d.a). Giles, H., Coupland, N., & Coupland, J. (1991). Accommodation theory: Communication, context, and consequence. In G. Gudykunst & Y. Kim (Eds.), Theories in intercultural communication (pp. 112–135). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1978). The external control of organizations.More Articles From Communication
.ico)
.ico)
.ico)
.ico)
