Company Characteristics

Choose an organization with which you are familiar. It can be where you work now or have in the past. It can be the organization of a friend or family member. It can be a club or church organization. It is not necessary to research a company you are not familiar with.
Prepare a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper that describes the culture and characteristics of the organization you have chosen, using the list of characteristics of organizations presented in your readings from Week One and Two. Use your best APA paper formatting, including a title, and an introduction and a conclusion to the paper. Headings can be useful in a paper with many sub-topics like this.
Cite at least two peer-reviewed references in addition to the text and be sure to address the following questions in your paper:
1. Introduce the paper telling the reader the purpose of the paper and the topics you'll cover.
2. Define "characteristics" and how they are used to understand, describe and compare organizations
3. Describe how your selected organization exhibits each of the characteristics listed below?
•System (e.g., individual units, open, closed) •Rules/norms(e.g., written, unwritten, formal, informal) •Hierarchy (e.g., chain of command, supervisor, administrator, manager) •Communication networks (e.g., formal, informal) •Organizational orientation (e.g., achievement, dogmatism, authoritarianism) •Leadership approaches (e.g., social, task, balanced) •Management communication/decision-making (e.g., tell, sell, consult, join)
4. State which characteristics (choose at least four) from those listed above which most shape communication and culture within the organization? What communication tools/methods are used most commonly? Which tools convey information most effectively in the organization? (Be specific here - this is a chance to identify real problems you will offer solutions for in a future assignment.)
5. Close the paper with a formal conclusion that recaps the purpose of the paper, the major points you made and the value of knowing this information.