Assignment and Guidelines

The case study for this week is Building a Coalition, which appears on page 580 of the textbook.

Each student is required to analyze this week's case study and submit a two- to three-page paper addressing the key questions identified below. Remember that all case studies present both too much and too little information. There may be information presented that is not really relevant, and there may be scant information about a key area. This analysis does require interpretation of the information, and there is no one right answer; however, you must explain and defend any assumptions you made, or conclusions resulting from your analysis, with citations from the text or from the case itself. There is no need to research outside sources for this paper.

Your paper must include the following labeled sections.

Part I: Group Development

Identify and summarize the stages of group development. Reflecting on the case and textbook material, what stage is the group at now?

How could an understanding of the stages of group development have assisted the Woodson Foundation in building a cohesive coalition?

Support your conclusion with evidence from the case and our text.

Part II: Problem Identification

Identify key problems. Identify primary and secondary problems the Woodson Foundation is facing. Identify what the organization should have understood about individual membership in teams in order to have built group processes that were supportive of her groups' goals. Do not necessarily limit yourself to only team theory here. Plumb any concepts we have covered to date if you feel they are relevant.

Part III: Retrospective Evaluation

Given that there is no one perfect solution for this situation, identify, describe, and defend two possible solutions to the primary problem(s).Clearly identify and defend both courses of action. Identify and discuss specific steps needed to implement your selections. Support your selections with evidence from the case, the text, or weekly discussion. Remember that deciding on a course of action entails envisioning and planning the steps to success. Be sure to identify implementation steps for both possible solutions. Almost every situation presented with relation to group dynamics and behavior can have multiple avenues for remedy. It is important to develop the ability to critically evaluate more than one alternative and rationally identify pros and cons of each. Presenting pros and cons for the identified alternative solutions in a table format within the paper is acceptable.

Part IV: Reflection

What would you advise as a strategy for managing diversity issues for program leaders?