| Course | HCS 370 Organizational Behavior (HCS/370) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Organizational behavior concept matrix |
| Length | about 1,048 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Health Administration |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCS 370 Week 1
Twelve Concepts, One Pharmacy: An Organizational Behavior Matrix for a Hospital Pharmacy Department Losing Its Technicians
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
HCS/370: Organizational Behavior
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The hospital, the pharmacy department and its figures are composites written for a model paper; theories and findings come from the sources listed.
A composite 300-bed hospital's pharmacy department employs 16 pharmacists and 32 technicians who prepare, check and deliver medications around the clock. Last year, 12 technicians left, a turnover rate of 38%. Most left within their first year. Pharmacists now spend hours training replacements, overtime has doubled and delays in delivering first doses have increased. This paper uses the foundations of organizational behavior to understand what is happening, beginning with a matrix of twelve concepts.
What Organizational Behavior Studies
Organizational behavior examines how individuals, groups and organizational structures shape behavior at work, with the aim of improving performance and well-being. A turnover problem is a good test of the field, because people leave jobs for individual, group and organizational reasons at once.
The Matrix: Individual Level
Perception: how people select and interpret information; technicians perceive pharmacists' corrections as criticism; managers can make feedback specific and routine. Attitudes and job satisfaction: evaluations of the job; exit interviews cite feeling unappreciated; managers can survey satisfaction and act on results. Personality: stable traits; detail-oriented people fit sterile compounding; hiring can assess fit. Motivation: forces that direct and sustain effort; technicians see no path to advance; managers can create career steps. Stress: responses to demands; night technicians work alone during peaks; staffing and breaks can reduce it.
The Matrix: Group Level
Communication: exchange of information; orders arrive by several channels and are sometimes missed; standard channels reduce errors. Group norms: shared expectations; new technicians are left to learn on their own; mentoring can become the norm. Leadership: influence toward goals; supervisors are promoted for technical skill without leadership training; training can close the gap. Power: the ability to influence; pharmacists hold authority over technicians' work; clear roles make that authority fair. Conflict: perceived opposition; pharmacists and nurses clash over first-dose timing; shared measures can turn blame into problem solving.
The Matrix: Organizational Level
Structure: how work is divided and coordinated; technicians report to a single manager across three shifts; shift leads can close the distance. Culture: shared assumptions and values; errors are met with blame; a just culture approach can change that. Change: movement from one state to another; the department is adding automated dispensing; people must be prepared for it.
Burnout in the Profession
Dee et al. (2023), in a systematic review of burnout among pharmacists, reported a pooled prevalence of about one in two. Burnout among pharmacists sets the conditions technicians work in, since a stressed pharmacist who corrects sharply teaches a new technician that the job is harsh before it teaches anything else.
Motivation in Depth
Deci and Ryan (2000) argued that three needs underlie motivation, feeling in control of one's own actions (autonomy), feeling effective (competence) and feeling connected to others (relatedness), and that settings which satisfy them sustain effort and well-being. The technicians' exit interviews map onto all three: little say in their assignments, uncertainty about whether they were doing well and a sense of isolation on night shifts.
Culture in Depth
Schein (1990) separated what can be seen in a culture, its artifacts, from what it says it believes, its espoused values, and from the deeper assumptions its members take for granted. The department's posted values include teamwork and respect. Its artifacts include a whiteboard listing each technician's errors. Its underlying assumption appears to be that errors reflect carelessness. When the posted values and the assumptions disagree, people follow the assumptions.
The Department's History
The pharmacy was not always a hard place to start. Five years ago, turnover was under 15%. Since then, the hospital added 40 beds without adding technician positions, moved sterile compounding into a new clean room with stricter procedures and lost two long-serving shift leads to retirement. Each change was reasonable on its own. Together they increased workload, raised the stakes of every error and removed the informal mentors who had taught new technicians how the department really worked. Organizational behavior asks managers to look at such accumulated changes, not only at the people who leave.
Voices From the Department
One long-serving technician put it simply: when I started, someone had my back. A pharmacist described the other side: we are checking twice as many doses with the same staff, and I do not have time to teach. Both statements are true, and both point to the same structural problem.
How the Concepts Interact
The concepts connect. A blaming culture shapes how technicians perceive feedback, which lowers satisfaction and motivation, which affects whether they stay. Group norms that leave new technicians alone make the first months harder, exactly when most leave.
The Three Concepts That Matter Most
For the turnover problem, motivation, group norms and culture matter most. Motivation explains why technicians leave; norms explain why the first year is hardest; culture explains why feedback feels like punishment.
What a Manager Could Do First
The pharmacy director could replace the error whiteboard with a review of system causes, pair each new technician with a mentor for 90 days and create a technician career ladder with certification milestones. None requires a large budget.
Measuring Change
The department will track first-year technician turnover, overtime hours and a short quarterly survey on feeling supported, aiming to cut turnover to 20% within two years.
Why Not Simply Raise Pay?
A pay increase is the fastest response to turnover, and the director will review wages against the local market. But pay does not explain why new technicians feel alone, why corrections feel like blame or why the first months are the hardest. Treating turnover as a pay problem alone would spend money without touching the causes the matrix identifies.
Limits of the Analysis
Exit interviews capture only those who left and may overstate some complaints. The director will also interview technicians who stayed more than three years to learn what keeps them.
What Later Weeks Will Add
Individual behavior and motivation, teams, culture and change each receive fuller analysis in the weeks ahead, using this department as the running case.
Conclusion
Organizational behavior gives managers a vocabulary for problems that look like staffing shortages but are really about perception, motivation, norms and culture. Applied to a pharmacy department losing its technicians, the concepts point to specific, affordable changes a manager can make.
References
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Dee, J., Dhuhaibawi, N., & Hayden, J. C. (2023). A systematic review and pooled prevalence of burnout in pharmacists. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 45(5), 1027-1036. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-022-01520-6
Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45(2), 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.2.109
What the HCS 370 Week 1 instructions ask
HCS 370 Week 1 typically asks students to explain the foundations of organizational behavior and apply them to health care. Many sections have used a matrix in which students define key concepts, such as perception, attitudes, motivation, communication, groups, leadership, power, conflict, culture and change, and give workplace examples, followed by a short discussion. Other versions ask for a paper on why organizational behavior matters to health care managers. Length depends on the format. Strong work defines each concept accurately, uses specific health care examples rather than generic ones, organizes concepts by level and explains what a manager could do with each insight.
How this HCS 370 Week 1 example is built
The sample opens with the department's problem: technicians leaving within a year, overtime rising and pharmacists spending time training replacements. It explains that organizational behavior studies behavior at three levels and why a turnover problem touches all three. The matrix follows, with twelve concepts grouped by level, each with a definition, a pharmacy example and a management implication. Discussion sections draw on a review of burnout prevalence among pharmacists, self-determination theory and a classic account of organizational culture. The paper closes by identifying motivation, group norms and culture as the three concepts most relevant to the turnover problem and previewing the analysis of later weeks.
HCS 370 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
The first week is usually graded on accurate definitions and relevant examples. Faculty look for correct explanations of organizational behavior concepts, examples drawn from health care settings, organization that shows the levels of analysis and some insight into how managers can use the concepts. Scholarly sources earn credit. A matrix must be complete and consistent, and any accompanying discussion should add analysis rather than repeat the table. Clear writing and APA style complete the grade, along with a consistent table format. Matrices with dictionary definitions and examples like employees work together, or discussions that never connect concepts to a real problem, usually earn less than work that uses the concepts to explain what is happening in a workplace.
HCS 370 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
The most frequent problem in HCS 370 Week 1 is generic examples. Instead of saying teamwork is important in hospitals, describe a specific team and what happens in it. Another is definitions copied from a glossary; paraphrase and cite. Students also treat concepts as separate boxes when they interact; motivation depends on culture, and conflict depends on power. Organize concepts by individual, group and organizational level. Add what a manager could do with each insight, since the course takes a managerial view. Use at least one research source beyond the textbook. If the prompt includes a matrix, keep entries parallel in length. Finally, connect the concepts to one real problem to show why the field matters.
Related HCS 370 sample papers
Other HCS 370 week samples
- HCS 370 Week 2: Perception and Motivation
- HCS 370 Week 3: Team Building
- HCS 370 Week 4: Positive Organizational Culture
- HCS 370 Week 5: Leading Organizational Change
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HCS 370 Week 1 questions, answered
What does HCS/370 Week 1 usually ask for?
Many sections ask students to define key organizational behavior concepts and give health care workplace examples, often in a matrix, sometimes with a short paper on why organizational behavior matters.
Where can I find a free HCS 370 Week 1 sample paper?
The pharmacy department matrix and discussion can be read here at no cost; margin notes explain each entry. We will write a first custom paper for your own workplace free.
What are the three levels of organizational behavior?
The individual level, including perception, attitudes and motivation; the group level, including teams, communication, power and conflict; and the organizational level, including structure, culture and change.
Why does organizational behavior matter in health care?
Because behavior drives safety, quality, turnover and patient experience, and managers who understand motivation, teams and culture can change outcomes that policies alone cannot.
What is self-determination theory?
A theory of motivation proposing that people are most motivated and well when their needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness are met.
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