Personal World View Assignment

1. Personal World View (Individual Assignment): Using your experiences and the discussion and
frameworks presented in class, please prepare a short paper in which you describe: 
basic assumptions about the organizational world and how it works 
basic assumptions about human nature and people
connections between these and your perspective on management theory

Your paper should be about 3-4 pages (750 – 1,000 words) and critically reflect on both your
assumptions and how these assumptions affect your behaviour and experiences in the working
world. Please ensure that your paper critically reflects on both assumptions and the link to action

Due:                Week 3, September 28th, 2021.
                        Submit  as an attachment (MS Word file .docx)
 Length:         Maximum 1000 words (4 double spaced pages).  
 
Summary:     
Using your experiences and the discussion and frameworks presented in class, please prepare a short paper in which you describe:
basic assumptions about the organizational world and how it works
basic assumptions about human nature and people.
connections between these and your perspective on management theory
 
Your paper should critically reflect on both your assumptions and how these assumptions affect your behaviour and experiences in the working world. Please ensure that your paper critically reflects on both assumptions and the link to action. 
 
Purpose: A key premise of this course is that effective leadership is increased by self-awarenessthe ability to articulate assumptions and to question them when appropriate. As a starting point to this process, this assignment asks you to describe your worldview as it pertains to human nature and the organizational world, and to explore the connections between these aspects of your worldview and management theory.
 
Some questions to get you started:
 

Human Nature: What are people like? What makes them tick? What do we all want out of life? What does this mean for the way we work? Where do your ideas here come from?

Organizational World: What is the organizational world like? What are organizations? What impact does the organizational world have on other aspects of the world? How does it affect people? How do you think it will affect you? What are your thoughts on entering it/ being in it? What factors have been influential in shaping your views here?

Connection to Theory: What are the connections between your views here and your views on management theory? To what extent has theory shaped your perceptions, and to what extent have your values and beliefs shaped your evaluation of various management theories? What do you reject? What do you embrace? Of what are you uncertain? What has shaped your views?

 
For this paper you are not expected to do extensive research on management theory; instead, you are asked to draw upon materials and ideas that you have encountered through your studies to date, as well as the assigned readings for this course.
 
Mental Models and Assumptions:
We are guided in our daily behaviour and decision-making process by mental models. These models are not built on raw experience, nor are they simply neutral reflections of an objective reality out there. We learn to build these models as children. The blocks out of which we build are the stories we encounter in our families, and later our schools, communities, and mass media. Central to these models are sets of assumptions about the way things workthe principles that govern the natural world, the spiritual world, society, and human nature.
 
Each of these three aspects of the paper is important. Submissions that neglect to consider them all will not receive top marks (80+). We recommend that you address each category under separate headings such as: human nature, organizational world, and connection to theory.
 
 
Format for Written Work:
 
A reminder that following formatting guidelines are listed on the course outline:
 
All written work should be prepared in accordance with the following guidelines.
a)     A cover sheet with the assignment title, your name and student number and date in the bottom right-hand quarter of the paper. This sheet should appear at the front if I print out your paper. It should not be a separate file.
b)    1.5″ margins all around, double spaced, 12 point font, standard 8.5″x11″ page size, with page numbers are located at the bottom centre of the page. The cover page is not numbered. The first page of text is page 1.
c)     For bibliographic references and citations, use the APA guidelines. These are readily available on the web. The Trent Library has an excellent set of links to citation guides: http://www.trentu.ca/library/help/Citation_Guides.htm. I recommend using OWL from Purdue University https://owl.english.purdue.edu/ and the citation builder from North Carolina State University http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/citationbuilder/
d)    All assignments must have this declaration on the cover sheet: I certify that this work has been prepared as a result of my own effort. I have not submitted this work for grading in any other course.