Organizational Behavior

Quenchbliss Case Study: Present Recommendations

Scenario: In Touchstone 1, you developed a SWOT analysis to fully understand the position of the Quenchbliss soda company in the current market. You should use that analysis to help inform your decisions on this Touchstone. You will continue your role as an Organizational Behavior Consultant to help Quenchbliss leaders grow their organization.

For this Touchstone, we will make the following assumptions:

· Quenchbliss needs to restructure the organization. As noted in the scenario, the company has grown fast and organically.

· Based on the SWOT analysis performed in the Unit 1 Touchstone, Quenchbliss wants to expand into two more countries, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, in the next 5 years.

· Because they have high turnover, Quenchbliss needs to work on their motivation strategies to keep their people happy and engaged.

Consider the following as you develop your organizational structure:

· Quenchbliss has historically been an organic organization but needs to make mechanistic changes as it expands. Review the content on 
organizational structures and organizational design.

· Quenchbliss does not have a clear path to promotion, which can be one motivational factor. According to the 
expectancy theory, showing employees that desirable behavior leads to positive outcomes, like promotions, is important as part of the organizational structure design.

Consider the following questions as you develop your motivational plans:

· How can a manager motivate employees extrinsically but also ensure they are intrinsically motivated?

· Which motivational theory do you think is the most valid and applicable to Quenchbliss’s organization?

Assignment: Develop a slide deck for a presentation for the leadership at Quenchbliss. As an OB expert, your presentation will address how the company can change the organizational structure, provide a graphic on a proposed structure, and also address motivational strategies that are tied to motivational theories.

Note: This Touchstone should be completed as a slide deck using software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, or another similar program.

In order to foster learning and growth, all work you submit must be newly created by you for this course. Any plagiarized or recycled work will result in a Plagiarism Detected alert. Review 
Touchstones: Academic Integrity Guidelines for more about plagiarism and the Plagiarism Detected alert. For guidance on the use of generative AI technology, review 
Ethical Standards and Appropriate Use of AI.

A. Directions

· Review the tutorials on 
Organizational Structure and Design and 
Organizational Change. The tutorials on 
Managing Change and 
Mechanistic Change Models will also be helpful. All of these are in Unit 1, Challenge 3: Organizational Structure and Change.

· Based on the fact that Quenchbliss is changing from organic to mechanistic, consider what formalized organizational structure might work best, and what the process would look like for Quenchbliss.

Step 2: Decide on a Motivational Plan

· Review Fundamentals of Motivation. You will then want to review all of the motivational theories and strategies covered in Unit 2, Challenge 4, Attributions: Interpreting the Causes of Behavior, and Unit 2, Challenge 5, Attitudes and Behavior.

· As you review, consider which ones might apply best to Quenchbliss. Consider the theories and which best fits the organizational circumstances as you described in the first Touchstone.

Step 3: Prepare a Presentation for the Quenchbliss Leadership Team

Prepare a slide deck (PowerPoint presentation or equivalent) for a presentation to the Board of Directors and the Leadership Team at Quenchbliss. The presentation should have 10 slides:

· A title slide; this should also include your name and the date.

· An introduction slide that addresses what you’ll be covering in the presentation and why it is important. This will include elements of your SWOT analysis; in particular, “weaknesses” and “opportunities” will explain the need for structural change and a plan to address motivational issues.

· Three slides that describe the recommended organizational structure and why it is appropriate. One of these three slides should graphically present the proposed organizational structure.

hint

If you use Microsoft PowerPoint, go to “insert” and “chart” and search for the appropriate organizational chart layout.

· Three slides that present each of your motivational suggestions and rationale for selection, along with a discussion on how they relate to a motivational theory.

· A closing summary slide.

· A slide listing at least four sources you used; these sources should include two Sophia tutorials and two outside sources that you used to do your SWOT analysis. These should be given in APA format. See the examples below for correct formatting.

Step 4: Add Speaker Notes or Commentary

For technical reasons, students are encouraged to use Option B, Add Speaker Notes, at this time.

If you were giving this presentation to a group, you would also have an oral component, providing additional explanation, examples, or highlights as you reach each slide. In this step you can either record those comments orally OR write detailed speaker notes directly in your slide deck.

Option A: Add Commentary

In practice you would usually share your recommendations orally in a face-to-face (virtual or in-person) meeting, so it is highly recommended that you include audio clips to each slide to simulate such a presentation.

· In Microsoft PowerPoint, do this by clicking on “record” at the top to make that ribbon visible, then clicking “audio” to access that toolbar. Click the red circle when you are ready to speak, and click the square when you are done.

· If you use Google Slides, you must record audio separately and then upload the audio files for each slide. Many computers and digital devices have built-in software and hardware to do voice recordings. You can also find recorders online; one is vocaroo.com.

· If you use Google, be sure that you keep all files in the same folder so our graders have access to the audio files. See 
this video for instructions.

Option B: Add Speaker Notes

You may also add your commentary to the presentation as text, using the notes pane. This pane appears beneath each slide as you develop the presentation.

If you choose this option, write exactly what you would say, using complete sentences. You should have about a paragraph (5-6 sentences) per slide. Some may be longer or shorter.

hint

If you do not see the pane for these beneath your slides, go to View: Notes (in PowerPoint); in Google Slides the notes pane is always visible.

Step 5: Submit Your Presentation

Once you have completed your slides, added commentary or speaker notes, and reviewed the checklist below, it is time to submit your presentation! If you are using PowerPoint, you simply need to save your presentation and upload the file to Sophia. If you are using another slide presentation software, download the slide deck as a Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) and upload this version to Sophia. In Google Slides this is under File: Download: PowerPoint. In Apple Keynote it is under File: Export to: PowerPoint.
Refer to the checklist below throughout the process. Only submit your Touchstone once it meets these guidelines.
1. General Presentation Guidelines
❒ Are your slides clear and succinct?
❒ Have you used an easily readable slide design?
❒ Have you added audio commentary OR written speaker notes for each of the slides?

2. Content Guidelines
❒ Did you recommend an organizational structure?
❒ Did you provide a graphic of an organizational chart?
❒ Did you provide a rationale on why you picked this structure?
❒ Did you select three motivational strategies Quenchbliss should implement, and provide a rationale on why you selected these?
❒ Did you tie each of your motivational strategies to a motivation theory and discuss it?
❒ Did you provide complete notes and/or audio for each slide?
❒ Did you include a final slide with at least four sources (2 outside sources and 2 Sophia sources) that you used for the presentation, and are these in the correct APA format?

B. Requirements:

C. Additional Resources

·
Advice on developing a slide deck from Sophia’s class on Business Communication.

·
Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA Formatting and Style Guide. This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.

·
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style. This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The “References,” “Punctuation,” and “Grammar and Writing Style” sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.

· APA Style: Quick Answers—References. This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.

·
Appropriate Level of Citation. This page offers guidance on how to effectively avoid over- or under-citation.

D. Rubric