Write an informative report on one of the following topics.

1. What should a U.S. manager know about dealing with workers from ____ [you fill in the country or culture]? What factors do and do not motivate people in this group? How do they show respect and deference? Are they used to a strong hierarchy or to an egalitarian setting? Do they normally do one thing at once or many things? How important is clock time and being on time? What factors lead them to respect someone? Age? Experience? Education? Technical knowledge? Wealth? Or what? What conflicts or Given your analysis of the report’s audience, purpose, and data collection, consider the strategies used in the report to convey the information. Answer these questions:

■ What tone did the writer adopt?

■ How was the report organized and designed to meet the needs of the audience?

■ What language choices did the writer make?

Finally, examine the press releases that are written about the report (the press releases for each report are included as links) for the ways the information in the report is adapted for a different audience and purpose. How do the content, organization, tone, and language choices differ from those of the original report? Do you see any ethical issues involved in condensing the report into a press release?

As your instructor directs,

■ Write a report of your findings to your instructor.

■ Present your findings to the class using presentation software.

miscommunications may arise between workers from this culture and other workers due to cultural differences?
Are people from this culture similar in these beliefs and behaviors, or is there lots of variation?
2. What benefits do companies offer? To get information, check the web pages of three companies in the same industry. Information about benefits is usually on the page about working for the company.
3. Describe an ethical dilemma encountered by workers in a specific organization. What is the background of the situation? What competing loyalties exist? In the past, how have workers responded?
How has the organization responded? Have whistle-blowers been rewarded or punished? What could the organization do to foster ethical behavior?
4. Describe a problem or challenge encountered by an organization where you’ve worked. Describe the problem, show why it needed to be solved, tell who did what to try to solve it, and tell how successful the efforts were. Possibilities include ■ How the organization is integrating a social media strategy.
■ How the organization is implementing teams, downsizing, or changing organizational culture.
■ How the organization uses e-mail or voice mail.
■ How the organization uses telecommuting.
■ How managers deal with stress, make ethical choices, or evaluate subordinates.
■ How the organization is responding to changing U.S. demographics, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Plain Writing Act, or international competition and opportunities.