Overview
Due Saturday, January 24 midnight
Guidelines and Strategies:
The student’s written Position Paper is designed to invite the student to provide an
in-depth and critically reflective written examination of a selected collection of
assigned articles that address a specific theme. This paper is a response to the
guidelines below:
Sources to be used and properly cited for the Week 2 HBR Position Paper:
There are two HBR articles that students must use for the Week 2 Signature
Assignment:
What Leaders Need to Know About Organizational Culture?
by D. D. Warrick
Boeing 737 MAX: Company Culture and Product Failure.
By Michael A. Roberto
Students must also integrate appropriate support from Kouzes and Posner (2017);
Guidelines for the Week 2 HBR Position Paper:
Understanding organizational culture can be challenging for most students of
leadership. One of the reasons for this is that there are many factors the create an
organization’s culture many of which are visible and many of which are not.
Moreover, an organization’s culture is a powerful force that can create a positive or
negative impact on people and performance.
First, students are to read Warrick’s article (from the HBR Coursepack) to build a
baseline understanding of the components that create culture and why leaders
should be concerned about culture.
Second, students will explore the case study about the
Boeing 737 MAX: Company Culture and Product Failure
. Students are to read and
incorporate into this paper at least two additional articles pulled from verified and
vetted major publications (such as the WSJ and/or NYT). Student’s may incorporate
additional resources to support their positions. All sources used must be properly
cited in the references section of the paper as well as properly cited in the narrative
of the paper through in-text citations. Do not include sources in your References
section that do not appear at least once in the narrative of your paper in the form of
an intext citation.
January 13, 2026
Third, students will write their papers following the guidelines below:
What are the key components of organizational culture as seen through
Warrick’s article and what are the roles of leaders to ensure the development
of a functional and healthy culture vs. a dysfunctional and toxic culture.
Describe the key components of the Boeing culture and its impact on people
and processes. What drove Boeings view of people and how people are
treated? What is your opinion on the moral and ethical approach Boeing
employs as it relates to the way they treat their workforce.
What are the primary differences between the cultures that Warrick
describes and the Boeing culture when it comes to the value, dignity, and
purpose of human beings? Explain why these differences exist.
How does the Boeing culture incorporate, or fail to incorporate practices of
Transformational Leadership based on the reading of Kouzes and Posner to-
date? Which practices and how are they demonstrated, or not?
If you were a founder or co-founder of a startup in Silicon Valley, how would
you define your approach when it comes to the people you hire to work in
your company?
Students are to write papers in a narrative flowing format using paragraphs. Do not
rewrite the bulleted questions above in the body of the paper.
Structure and Style:
Position Papers, or otherwise known as Signature Assignments, are designed to
demonstrate student’s learning of specific concepts and whether students can apply
those concepts in professional practice. Papers are to have a cover page, references
page, and no less than 3.5 pages of written narrative (this page total does not
include the cover page and references page). Papers must follow APA formatting
regarding font style and size, spacing, intext citations, direct or indirect quotes.
The student must keep the
Turnitin
“similarity index” at or below the recommended
level of 15%. Students can submit their papers to Turnitin to check on Similarity
Index percentages and correct citations as often as they choose up to 24 hours
before the Saturday midnight deadline.