Psychology in Business Case Report

Any one Company = Netflix, Airbnb and Fitbit
2000 Words Required, Quantitive required

Introduction
There is growing recognition that a better understanding of psychological phenomena can assist organizations in becoming more efficient, more attractive, and ultimately more profitable. Just last Spring for example, Dan Price – CEO of a Seattle-based credit card company decided to raise the minimum salary in his firm to $70,000/year. The reason for doing so was based on findings from psychology and behavioral economics, showing that the positive connection between and income and personal happiness diminishes at roughly $70,000/year.  
In this assignment, you are assigned the role of ‘psychology’ consultant, and tasked with the objective of helping an organization optimize its profitability by utilizing psychological/neuroscientific phenomena. You will make an informed written ‘pitch’ to a CEO of a major company (see below) about how their company can be improved by utilizing 1-3 psychological/neuroscientific insights of your choice.
This is an exclusively individual assignment. While I encourage you to bounce ideas off one another and seek constructive feedback, the proposal must be 100% written by the individual. For more information on what constitutes plagiarism, please see page 10 of the student handbook
Format
Overall, your proposal should be 3-5 pages (single spaced) in length, and should be structured in the following ways:

Opening “Pitch” (1 paragraph).  This is a succinct, business “pitch”, intended for the CEO of the company you have chosen. Because CEOs have limited time and attention, you want to make this paragraph as succinct, salient, and compelling as possible. While you are free to utilize any approach to this, one efficient way of accomplishing these goals is to utilize the classic pitch structure from management consulting:

      – Overall recommendation (1-2 sentences) “Overall, I recommend X, because I have strong reason to believe this will boost overall profitability by Y etc. 
      – Evidence/Reason(s); (3-4 sentences) “This will increase profitability because X will have Y effect on revenues, and Z can help us to reduce costs etc.” 
      – Summary and reiteration of the initial recommendation (1-2 sentences) “For these reasons, I believe adopting X would be in the best interest of the company”

Explanation of the psychological/neuroscientific phenomena (3-4 paragraphs). Describe the phenomena in enough detail so that an individual without a psychology/neuroscience background could gain a basic understanding. To this end, you may find it helpful to connect the phenomena to daily activities which we can all relate to.
Explanation for why / how this would help optimize profitability (3-4 paragraphs). Describe how these phenomena can be applied to the organization, and the ways in which you envision them to have a positive impact.  This explanation should be sufficiently detailed, and should strive to be as quantitative as possible (e.g. this implementation can help boost revenues by 20%, which amounts to $350,000 each year).  
Citations (APA)

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Across these areas, you may find it useful to invoke neuroscientific explanations of psychological phenomena. Recent evidence suggests that explanations described via neuroscience can be more informative and compelling than psychological or behavioral explanations alone. See the link below for more information
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2778755/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Potential companies:
Your company must either be a publicly traded company, or a major privately owned company with a recent (2018) valuation of at least $20B (e.g. Uber, WeWork). If you would like to select a company or organization which does not meet this criteria, professor approval is required. 
Criteria

This assignment will be assessed based on three primary components: 1) How well the psychological phenomena was understood and explained, 2) How well the psychological phenomena was applied to the business environment, and 3) How feasible and compelling the proposal is, overall. While the primary weight of the assignment will be on the content of the proposal, the overall organization and clarity of the writing will be considered as well. Please see the assignment page on myCourses for a complete breakdown of the rubric.

Business Psychology Case
Business Psychology Case
CriteriaRatingsPts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeIntroduction
10.0 ptsIntroduction captures the reader’s attention, introduces the topic, provides sufficient background information, and introduces the writer’s thesis statement

8.5 ptsIntroduction introduces the topic, provides sufficient background information and introduces the writer’s thesis statement

7.5 ptsIntroduction introduces the topic, provides some background information, and introduces the thesis statement.

6.5 ptsIntroduction introduces the topic

0.0 ptsNo introduction

10.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomePersuasiveness
50.0 ptsThe paper presents a persuasive case that these measures should be adopted. The evidence presented is strong and sufficient to support the claims made

45.0 ptsThe evidence for why these measures should be adopted are present, but not as sufficient as they could be

38.0 ptsThe paper presents a less than compelling case that the measures recommended should be adopted

34.0 ptsThe student shows a very limited ability to persuade the reader to adopt these measures

17.5 ptsThe paper exhibits little or no persuasiveness

50.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeUnderstanding of core concepts
30.0 ptsThe student demonstrates a strong understanding of the psychological phenomenon in each section of the paper. The understanding of the phenomenon is well described.

26.0 ptsThe psychological phenomenon are well understood, but not described in an accessible way

22.0 ptsThe psychological phenomenon aren’t described or understood in sufficient detail

19.0 ptsThe phenomena are unclear or non-existent

15.0 ptsThe phenomena are non-existent

30.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeStructure and organization
10.0 ptsPaper flows logically, paragraphs are thoughtfully ordered, and transitional sentences are used to develop relationships between ideas.

8.5 ptsPaper flows relatively logically, paragraphs generally order ideas in a logical manner, and transitional sentences create a logical progression of ideas

7.5 ptsPaper demonstrates a developing logic, but may jump between ideas; occasional connection of ideas between paragraphs; ideas are sequential rather than logically-driven

6.5 ptsPaper wanders from one idea to the next without a clear sense of organization; paragraphs lack topic sentences and/or connection of ideas

0.0 ptsPaper has no sense of organization or structure

10.0 pts

Total Points: 100.0