What an OB assignment is testing
An organizational behavior assignment usually gives you a workplace problem, such as falling morale, conflict in a team or resistance to a new system, and asks you to diagnose it with theory. The marks go to application: using a model to explain the facts of the case and to justify a recommendation.
The most common weakness is a long description of theories followed by a short, generic conclusion. Reverse that balance. Explain each theory in two or three sentences, then spend most of your words on what it reveals about the case.
Three levels of analysis
OB problems sit at one or more levels, and naming the level helps you pick the right theory.
| Level | Questions it asks | Typical topics |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Why does this person think, feel or act this way? | Personality, perception, attitudes, motivation, stress |
| Group | How do people behave together? | Team development, roles, conflict, communication, leadership |
| Organization | How do structure and culture shape behavior? | Culture, power and politics, structure, change |
Good answers often move across levels. Low motivation in a sales team may look individual, but the cause might be a commission structure (organization) or a manager who plays favorites (group).
Motivation theories and when to use them
| Theory | Core idea | Fits cases about |
|---|---|---|
| Maslow's hierarchy of needs | Needs from physiological to self-actualization; lower needs usually come first | Basic pay and security problems; widely criticized for weak evidence, so use with care |
| Herzberg's two-factor theory | Hygiene factors (pay, conditions) prevent dissatisfaction; motivators (achievement, recognition) create satisfaction | Staff who are not unhappy but not engaged |
| Vroom's expectancy theory | Motivation depends on expectancy, instrumentality and valence | Incentive schemes that are not working |
| Adams' equity theory | People compare their input and outcome ratio with others | Perceived unfair pay or promotion |
| Goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham) | Specific, challenging goals with feedback raise performance | Vague targets, lack of feedback |
| Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) | Autonomy, competence and relatedness drive intrinsic motivation | Micromanagement, creative or knowledge work |
Pick the one or two theories that best explain your case and say why you rejected the others. That short justification shows judgment, which markers reward.
A worked example: applying expectancy theory
Expectancy theory is popular in assignments because it can be expressed numerically. Motivational force = expectancy x instrumentality x valence, where expectancy and instrumentality are probabilities from 0 to 1 and valence is how much the reward is valued.
A bonus scheme that is not working (hypothetical)
A call center offers a bonus for resolving 90 percent of calls on first contact. A typical agent believes extra effort will hit the target (expectancy 0.8) and values the bonus highly (valence 0.9). But past bonuses were canceled when budgets tightened, so agents give only a 0.5 chance that hitting the target will actually pay out (instrumentality).
Motivational force = 0.8 x 0.5 x 0.9 = 0.36.
If management commits the bonus in writing and pays it monthly, instrumentality might rise to 0.9. Motivational force = 0.8 x 0.9 x 0.9 = 0.648, almost double.
The lesson for your recommendation: because the terms multiply, a weak link anywhere drags the whole result down. Raising the bonus would do little here; restoring trust that it will be paid matters far more. The numbers are illustrative, and you should say so in your answer.
Teams, power and conflict
For group-level problems, Tuckman's stages (forming, storming, norming, performing and the later added adjourning) help explain why a new team struggles. Belbin's team roles can show whether a team lacks, for example, someone who finishes tasks or challenges ideas.
Amy Edmondson's research on psychological safety adds a further lens: teams learn and report errors more readily when members believe they will not be embarrassed or punished for speaking up. In cases about hidden mistakes, silent meetings or a blame culture, psychological safety often explains more than any individual's personality, and it points to concrete changes in how the leader responds to bad news.
Power questions often draw on French and Raven's bases of power: legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and referent. A manager who relies on coercive power to push through a change may get compliance but not commitment, while a respected engineer with expert power can shift opinion without any formal authority.
Linking theory to evidence
Every time you name a theory, point to a specific fact in the case. "The team appears stuck in the storming stage" is weak on its own. Add the evidence: "two members openly dispute who leads the client meetings, and deadlines slipped after the merger of the two groups".
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Order your organizational behavior paperCulture and change
Schein's model describes culture at three levels: artifacts you can see (dress, office layout), espoused values the organization states, and underlying assumptions people take for granted. Problems often arise where espoused values ("we value innovation") clash with assumptions ("mistakes get punished").
| Change model | Stages | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Lewin | Unfreeze, change, refreeze | Explaining why change needs preparation and reinforcement |
| Kotter's eight steps | Urgency, coalition, vision, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, consolidation, anchoring in culture | Planning a large organizational change |
| ADKAR | Awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement | Change at the level of individual employees |
When a case describes resistance to change, look for its causes: fear of losing status or skills, poor communication, or past changes that failed. Each cause points to a different response.
Personality, perception and fairness
Individual-level problems often come down to how people differ and how they read each other. The Big Five model describes personality on five broad traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (sometimes reversed and called emotional stability). Research links conscientiousness fairly consistently with job performance, which makes it a useful point in selection cases.
Perception matters as much as personality. Attribution theory explains how people decide whether behavior is caused by the person or the situation. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to blame a colleague's character for a missed deadline while overlooking the workload or unclear instructions behind it. Managers who make this error tend to discipline when they should be redesigning the work.
Equity theory with simple numbers (hypothetical)
Priya earns $58,000 a year and regularly works 45 hours a week. A colleague in the same role earns $62,000 for 40 hours. Comparing pay per weekly hour, Priya receives 58,000 / 45 = about $1,289, while her colleague receives 62,000 / 40 = $1,550.
Equity theory predicts Priya will feel under-rewarded and try to restore balance: by cutting her hours, asking for a raise, changing whom she compares herself with, or leaving. In a case, this kind of comparison explains why a pay structure that looks reasonable on paper still drives resignations.
The numbers only illustrate the theory. Real perceptions of fairness also depend on how decisions are made and explained, which is why procedural justice deserves a mention in any pay or promotion case.
Structuring an OB case analysis
- Introduction The organization, the problem and your thesis about its cause.
- Diagnosis Two or three issues, each explained with a theory and case evidence.
- Critical evaluation Where the theory fits poorly or the evidence is thin.
- Recommendations Specific actions linked to each diagnosed issue, naming an owner, a date and the measure that will show it worked.
- Conclusion The main cause and the most important action.
Use recent peer-reviewed research alongside textbook theory where you can. Showing that a theory has been tested in a setting like your case strengthens the argument.
Weaknesses that markers flag most often
| Weakness | What it looks like | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Theory dump | Pages explaining models with no reference to the case | Explain briefly, then apply every point to a named fact |
| One-level thinking | Blaming individuals for what the structure causes | Check the group and organization levels before concluding |
| Generic advice | Recommendations such as "improve communication" | Say what changes, who is responsible and what evidence will show success |
| Uncritical use of models | Treating any theory as proven | Note evidence for and against, and cultural limits |
| Thin sourcing | Only lecture slides and one textbook | Add peer-reviewed studies that tested the theory |
Before submitting, read only your recommendations section. If each recommendation could be pasted into an essay about any company, it needs more detail from your case.
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Your paper is composed new for this order, scanned for plagiarism and kept strictly private. Adjustments inside the scope of your first brief cost nothing extra. A missed deadline, or a cancellation before writing starts, means the full amount goes back to you. Turnaround can be as quick as 3 hours. Reflective pieces are written from the real experiences you share with us.