TOPIC: Soc 185
SUBJECT: Sociology
TYPE: Coursework
DESCRIPTION:
20181AUDIT-REPORT GUIDELINESAUDIT-REPORTOVERVIEWThis quarter youwill conduct anorganizational audit1and report2your findings (hereafter “audit-report”). This will involve:choosing a partner (1 partner, 2 persons per group,or if necessary 3 persons—but must have permission to have a 3-person group);choosing a relativelylocal complex, formal organization; collecting background information on the organization; and conducting an interview with members of the organization too. Based onthisdata,yourteamwillproducea 7-10page audit-reportthat analyzes,interprets, describes, and discussesyour organizationbased on the datayou have collected toanswertheseven project based questions outlinedbelow.Audit-reports are routinely conducted in formal complex organizations of all types—governmental, commercial firms, and non-profit organizations—by project teams that include paid consultants, managers, government regulatory agencies, and even unions during grievance procedures in order to plan for the future, root out inefficiencies, address inequity and from them implement changes and define new directions for the organization in question. In short, organizational audits areregularly used to improve organizational performance.In what follows, I provideadetailed explanation of what yourorganizational based audit-reportwill involve.I havealsoincludedexplicit examples ofthe form your final audit-report is requiredto take. Yourfinal audit-report will be gradedon both:1.How wellyour teamof two/threehasanswered the required questions 2.How well you have followed the audit-report guidelinesprovided belowTo avoid confusion and increase your team’s chances of achieving a better grade, please read thisentire audit-reportassignmentmore than once. We willgo over aspects of the audit-reports in class on periodic group meeting days (usually coinciding with the showing of a video) and as students bring up issuesthey encounter as their audit-reportresearchunfolds.AN OVERVIEW OF THE AUDIT-REPORTRESEARCH STEPSYour audit-reportwill involvethe following six steps:1.First,you will select a partner(s); 2.Second,you will select a complex, formal organizationfor study[see syllabus for due dates!]; 3.Third, you will collectbackgroundarchival informationon the chosen organization; 4.Fourth, you will contactinformants from your chosen organization and conductin-depth interviews with them. Each individual team member is required to interview at least one personfrom the 1. Audit: a systematic assessment, especially of the efficiency or effectiveness of an organization or department, typically carried out by an independent assessor.2. Report: To give information about something that has happened. 20182organization. This person is to be a different person that is being interviewed by your other team member(s)3; 5.Fifth, you will analyzeand interpret the data you have collected(archival, interviews) and answer the six audit-report questions providedbelow; and 6.Sixth,you willprovideanaudit-reportthat is 7-10 pages long that presents yourfindings. The report MUST follow the formatting guidelines provided below. RESEARCH QUESTIONS #1 thru#3Below are outlined seven total questions that will supply the body of your report and will reflect your analysis of the complex, formal organization you have chosen. The first three questions are largely descriptive in nature involving you relating the history, structure, and operating environment of your organization. The last four questions are more theoretical in nature and require that you apply lecture and reading material to your organization of interest to come up with answers to them. DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING YOUR ORGANIZATIONYou answer the following seven questionsrelatingto the formal organziation you are researching. The first three questions are largely descriptive in nature.QUESTION 1.Provide a detailed historythatdiscussesyour formal organization:How and why was it created?•Youmight ask, When did __blank___ organization originate?How has __blank___ organization changed over time? Why was __blank___ organization created? What are __blank___ organization’s current goals and objectives?(Have these changed?)QUESTION 2.Provide a detailed description and discussion of your formal organization’s internal structure: hierarchies, divisions, specializations, affiliations, partnerships, etc.•Youmight ask, how is this organization structured: hierarchical or horizontal, authoritarian or democratic, seniority,and/or meritocratic advancement? Also, what are the major structural configurationsof your organization—leadership, management, workers, divisions, departments, work groups, etc. Sometimes this is called an “organizational flow chart.” What purpose (or function) does each unit servethe greater whole (of the organization) and perhaps how it ‘informally-unofficially’ deviates from it (if you have this information). For example, who tells who what to do and on what basis can they legitimately tell others to do so? Also important to answer,how does the organization’sformal structure facilitateitaccomplishing itsgoals and agenda orhow–if you find this to be the case—might its current structureinhibitit from achieving its goals and agenda.Or perhaps what each work group, 3NOTE: NOchildren, developmentally disabled, or any person who is not a legal guardian of themselves. 20183department, division, etc. play in supplying the goods and/or services the larger organization claims to provide?QUESTION 3.Provide a detailed description and discussion of your formal organization’s“operating environment”: competitors, affiliates, partners, dependencies, clients, customers, etc.•Characterize the operating environment within which your organization operates/exists? Organizations typically exist within a “field” of like organizations, which in turn are nested within successively larger industries, sectors, and markets. For example, what “sector” is your organization in—private industrial, public governmental, private commercial, public non-profit—and what kind of environment does it exist within—competitive, monopolistic, large scale international, or small scale local? What is the operational scale of __blank___ organization—local, regional, state, national, international?What affiliations or links does your organization have with other organizations or sectors—legal agreements, affiliations with larger organizations, [i.e., subsidiary or], sister company, division, department, extension, etc.? Who are __blank___ organization’s main competitors?What is the ownership configuration—single owner, partnership, publicly (stock) owned? Who are the main competitors?What is more, what about your organization reflects the influence the environment exerts on it and likewise how might your organization have influenced its environment? For instance, who are it main suppliers, customers, competitors, regulators, goods, services? RESEARCHQUESTIONS #4 thru#7ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY AND YOUR ORGANIZATIONYou will also need to addressthe following four questions as they relate to your organization given course materialsand organizational theory.You need only answer the bolded portion. I fill out what the question is askingbeneath,but you need not answer each and every item I note below the bolded question about your organization. These are suggestions. IMPORTANT NOTE: If one (or more)of thesequestionsDO NOTexplain an aspect of your organization you are not to leave the section blank. If, for example, the Rational Tools View (Question #4) doesn’t apply to your organization, you are still obligated to discussit, but instead how it explains your focus would be on“Why it does not explain anything within your organizationgivenwhat the rational tool view suggests and how the research you have done and the organization you have pursuedfunctions.) QUESTION 4.What about your organization appears formally rational, bureaucratic, efficient, effective, alienating, domineering, uneven/unequal?In seeking to answer this question, keepthese sub-questionsin mind as they may help you answer the above.•What about your organization appears to reflect it as a “rational tool” in which organizing principlesmeant to improve organizational performance (andtherefore predictability, efficiency, calculability and control)are pursued such asthrough simple, technical, and bureaucratic means of control.For example, these take form in the specific goals, performance measures and incentives, training guidelines, specialized division of labor and responsibility, and distinctlines of authority that are reflectedin your organization. 20184•What about the organization may make members feel empowered, that they are part of something bigger than themselves alone, that they are giving back, that they are providing a good/service of importance and that they are excelling at their responsibility/job/role?•What about your organization mightmake membersfeel that they are quasi-robots who must enactroutines, standards,and habits of work-conduct that may make them feel like parts of a big machine (i.e., complex organization)rather than free beings?QUESTION 5.What about your organization reflects the humanistic and therefore “human relations”aspectsof the managerial tradition?Need for recognition, teamwork, change of routine; what drives moraleandmotivationoutside of pay/wages, etc.?In seeking to answer this question, keep these sub-questions in mind as they may help you answer the above.•What aspectsof your organizationsreflect an attempt to generate/promote acollective ethic,member consensus,or solidarity among members and clients, customers, and those associated with it?•What aspects of your organization seek tomotivateorganizational membersthrough informal meanslike awards, casual attiredays, teamsand teamprojects, managerial recognitionand staff appreciation, special days and company parties, etc.?QUESTION 6.What about your organization reflects the“organicinterdependence”of itsparts (like a body—head, arms, legs, etc.)—as reflected in its divisions, branches, departments, and work groups, specialties, expertise, clients, etc.?In seeking to answer this question, keep these sub-questions in mind as they may help you answer the above.•What “function” does the organization(or the part of theorganization)you are studyingfulfill? This can be answered at many different levels. So, what function does it serve within theorganization to which it is a part? Isit the sales department of a firm, does it servethe function of providing revenue for the firm by selling its good/services?Further, what function does it fulfill society in general? If you are studying a police department, it might be that it serves to provide protection and securityand so forth.QUESTION 7.What about your organization reflects its “InstitutionalEnvironment”? The institutional environment or also known as its “operating environment”includesthe social institutionsthat govern human behaviorssuch as the lawsand regulations(labor, environmental, and tax laws), and standards for conductsuch asthe norms and values that shape individual and organizational behavior.In seeking to answer this question, keep these sub-questions in mind as they may help you answer the above.•When thinking this question through, think about the ideas and standards (laws/morals) regarding “the proper way to do things” that stand behind your organization thatshape how it seeks to fulfill its mission.These areissues that reflectyour organizations external environment.For instance, how does your organization reflect its social environment insofar as it embodies norms, morals, standards for conduct, and/or ideas regarding “the proper way to do things?” *See also the electronic reading by Scott, “Adolescents of Institutional Theory,” and his attention to, “Analyzing Social and Cultural Environments” as well as Chapter 5, pp. 167-177 for details on institutional environments too. 20185FORMATTING GUIDELNESFinal reports must be structured into seven sectionsand use the following sub-headings and formatting specification. These are thesub-sectionsfor your audit-reports. Use them as headers within the report itself. 1.Introduction2.Methods3.Findings, section one (questions #1-#3)4.Findings, section two (questions #4-#7)5.Discussion/Conclusion6.Appendix7.BibliographyThe following are the specific formatting guidelinesfor your audit-report. Likesections and sectionsheadings, these arerequiredformatting specifications. •A single reportis turned in for all group participants•Reports are to be 7-10single spaced pages•Reports must use 12 pts between paragraphs(in word, go to Format, Paragraph, and within Paragraph under “Spacing” there are”Before:” and “After:” you want 12pt in theseboxes. Then next see”Line Spacing” and you want “single.” (Note: Ignore the other choices—”General” and “Indentation” as theycan be left as default).•Reports must have 1” marginsontop, bottom, left and right •Reports must use 12-point proportional fontTimesorTimes Roman•Reports must have page numbersat bottom of each page•Reports are to have a single title page/cover sheetthat includes a title, all author names, course title, and date (no spiral binding, no cardboard covers, no graphics, no embellishments of any kind please)•Reports mustreferenceat least four different pieces of researchfrom course readings. Reports can cite lectures, when and where they are deemed relevant, butreferencinglecturesdoesnotfulfillthe “four readings”thatmust be included in your audit-report. These must be from course textsand/or e-readings.•Reports mustinclude a formal bibliographythat accountsfor all cited/used materials including written work and lectures cited. (Not counted toward page total)•Reports mustinclude formal appendicesof unique materials that cannot be viewed by the instructor. Copied first pages of itemsthat are toocumbersome to include are acceptable.(Not counted toward page total)oThe appendixmust also include interview questions (you asked your informants) and a consent form (which should also includethe names of the peopleyou interviewed, their place of business and/or address, and a telephone number where they can be reached). Also,include your interview notes, tapes, and other information from yourrecorded interviewsas proof of their 20186being conducted. Notes and tapes should be labeled with your name (the interviewers) and the name of the respondent on them.IN-TEXT REFERENCINGGUIDELINESCiting In-depth Interviews When analyzing interviewsand then writing up your results,you may find that you want toparaphrase oruse a direct quotefrom an interview with one or more of your informants. In such a circumstance,you will want to paraphrase the respondent’s comments or supply a very brief quote as you won’t have the space for large “block quotes” in your audit-reportgiven space requirements. Below I supply an example to make what is meant by “paraphrasing”and “directly quoting”an informantclearer and easierfor you to follow and use in your own audit-report. Please use the same techniques for quotes with in-text citations and italics in block quotes that are set off from the rest of text (if your quote is more than one sentence, it should be set-off from the rest of the textby a paragraph space and then indented .5 (see below).Exampleof paraphrasing an informant (or informants)or directly quoting them in a sentence or less. When you want to “paraphrase” do the following. Toparaphrase is to relate what the informant said, but to do so using some of your own words, which makes it an indirect quote of the informant’scomments. For example:Observations such as these and a wealth of others gained through interviews, conversations, and participation in local events left the lasting impression that outrage over the Guadalupe spill is more than simply a response to the petroleum spilled into the dunes. Interviewees seldom spoke about the Guadalupe spill without referencing “those other controversies or mishaps” (interviewee #6, 1996, male, 40s, San Luis Obispo County environmental activist).If you want to directly quote an informant and the quoted material is a sentence or less, this can be done within the paragraph referencing it like below. Commenting on this, a California field biologist who had been involved with the initial investigation of the spill (in 1990) attributed the low priority of the event for state and federal regulators to its lack of “sex appeal,” according to him, “this was not an Exxon Valdez, which is the reason there weren’t a large number of state employees concerned about it”(Field Biologist, California Department of Fish and Game, Male, 40s, Interview 1997).Example of directly quoting an informant in-text when the quote is longer than a single sentence and therefore is a block quote.If the quote is longer than a single sentenceit must be set off from the paragraph and written as a block quote. Using up large portions of text with block quotes does not show that you know the material that supplies the core of this course, which is (ultimately) what these projects are meant to show. So, if your quote is two sentences or more see the following example.In a seniority-based system, newer workers rely on those above them, those that have already done their jobs and learned their lessons, to manage and inform them on how to perform field duties (Glazer 1987; Sherman 1983; Bensman and Gerver 1963). As one worker put it(see below): 20187“I had to learn about equipment that I had never used. I was assigned to be with other people that had been there for a lot of years . . . theywould break you in. That is how you would learn” (Oil Field Worker, Male, 30’s, Interview 1997).Note: paragraph return before and after quote to set it off from other test. Italicize the quote. Note that this is only required if the quote involves more than ONE sentence. Otherwise if one sentence of less quote in text with no paragraph returnbut DO italicize direct quotes.Citingin-depth Interviews in BibliographyIn the references/bibliography page the citation would take this form:•Interview. 1997. Target Floor Manager, Male, 30’s. Interviewed, June 5, Davis, CA(*wherever the interview was conducted). If your team had two or moreinterviews that are quoted in text, this would need to be made obvious in the text so as to distinguish which informantis being quoted. Intext,there would betwo distinctive references such as the following in which the “a” and “b” not that they are different informers even if the other information makes them appear to be the same:•(Field Worker, Male, 30’s, Interview 1997a) and (Field Worker, Male, 30’s, Interview 1997b).In the bibliography, each of the above informants would be referenced as follows:•Interview. 1997a. Target Floor Manager, Male, 30’s. Interviewed June 5, Davis, CA. •Interview. 1997a. Target Checker,Male, 30’s. Interviewed June 10, Davis, CA. Citation of Course ReadingsWhen citing course readings please apply the fairly standard format that appears as follows:In text: •(Author, Date)In the bibliography: •Last Name, First Name. Date. “____title___.” Vol. No. Pp. (or if abook) Place, State: Publisher.Citation of Lecture MaterialsIf directly citing a lecture it should appear as follows: In text: •(Author, Title/Topic of Lecture, Date)An example would look like: •(Beamish, Decision Making, 2004)Indent .5 20188In the bibliography: •Beamish, Thomas. “Decision Making.” Lecture 180A. University of California, Davis. April #, 2004.Citing Materials from Your Study OrganizationLargely the same as a book or web site in the basic order of categories: •Author-Organization. Year. Title-elements. [media type and/or web URL]. Producer. Location and Name of Producer-author-organization.If there is no personal author, the organization (i.e., company, agency, or non-profit) would be the “author.” For example:•Unocal Corporation. 1994. Report on Options Considered for Remediation of the Guadalupe Oilfield in San Luis Obispo County, California. Report Edition No. M1-2003. Santa Maria, CA: Unocal Resources Division. (July 20).Citation of Electronic MaterialsWhen citing electronic media, such as web pages, use the following configuration in the bibliography:•Author-Organization. Year. Title-elements. [media type and/or web URL]. Producer. Location and Name of Producer-author-organization. Thus, if Iwere citing a bit from UC Davis’ Datelinearticle from the web site it would look as follows:•Dateline. 2004. “UC Davis Economic Impact Tops $2.7 Billion Annually.” UC Davis News and Information [http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=6667]. Davis, CA: University of California Davis.In-text citations would look like this •(Dateline, 2004). You would add a page number, for example (Dateline, 2004: 4), if it includes a direct quote from this source. If there is more than one document cited with the same title and same year (i.e., Dateline, 2004) you would then need to alphabetize them so (Dateline, 2004a) (Dateline, 2004b) and identify them as such in the bibliography.Example:Dateline. 2004a. “UC Davis Economic Impact Tops $2.7 Billion Annually.” UC Davis News and Information [http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=6667]. (March 4).Davis, CA: University of California Davis.Dateline. 2004b. “Evolutionary Geologist Honored for Research.” UC Davis News and Information [http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=6928]. (March 5). Davis, CA: University of California Davis
