[Link].

com

Comprehensive Cases

Case

1 Managing Motivation in a Difficult Economy

Learning Goals taking a toll on attitudes. The company’s downsizing

was big news, and the employees didn’t like what they
In this case, you’ll have an opportunity to assess a were hearing.
motivational program designed to reenergize a trou- Media reports of Morgan-Moe’s store closings
bled company’s workforce. Acting on behalf of the have focused on the lack of advance notice or
company’s executive board, you’ll evaluate the communica- tion from the company’s corporate
board’s current strategy based on survey data. You’ll offices, as well as the lack of severance payments for
also advise board members about improving the departing employees. In the absence of official
effectiveness of this program based on what you’ve information, rumors and gossip have spread like
learned about goal- setting and motivation in wildfire among remaining employees. A few angry
organizations. blogs developed by laid-off employees, like
[Link], have made the
morale and public relations picture even worse.
Major Topic Areas Morgan-Moe is changing in other ways as well. The
average age of its workforce is increasing rapidly. A cou-
• Changing nature of work ple of factors have contributed to this shift. First, fewer
• Diversity and age qualified young people are around because many fami-
• Goal-setting lies have moved away to find jobs. Second, stores have
• Organizational downsizing been actively encouraged to hire older workers, such
• Organizational justice as retirees looking for supplemental income. Manag-
ers are very receptive to these older workers because
they are more mature, miss fewer days of work, and do
The Scenario not have child care responsibilities. They are also often
more qualified than younger workers because they
Morgan-Moe’s drugstores are in trouble. A major re-
have more experience, sometimes in the managerial or
gional player in the retail industry, the company has
executive ranks.
hundreds of stores in the upper Midwest. These older workers have been a great asset to the
Unfortunately, a sharp decline in the region’s company in troubled times, but they are especially
manufacturing economy has put management in a likely to leave if things get bad. If these older workers
serious financial bind. Rev- enues have been start to leave the company, taking their hard-earned
consistently dwindling. Customers spend less, and the experi- ence with them, it seems likely that Morgan-
stores have had to switch their fo- cus to very low- Moe will sink deeper toward bankruptcy.
margin commodities, such as milk and generic drugs,
rather than the high-margin impulse-buy items that
used to be the company’s bread and butter. The firm
has closed quite a few locations, reversing its The System
expansion plans for the first time since it Claussen wasn’t sure how to respond to employees’
incorporated. sense of hopelessness and fear until a friend gave him
Being that this is uncharted territory for the com- a book entitled Man’s Search for Meaning. The book
pany, Jim Claussen, vice president for human relations, was written by a psychologist named Victor Frankl, who
had been struggling with how to address the issue with survived the concentration camps at Auschwitz. Frankl
employees. As the company’s fortunes worsened, he found that those who had a clear sense of purpose, a
could see that employees were becoming more and
more disaffected. Their insecurity about their jobs was
689
 [Link]
690 Comprehensive Cases

reason to live, were more likely to persevere in the Ostremski, another proponent of Program I, added,
face of nearly unspeakable suffering. Something about “It’s okay for the employees to feel a little uncertain
this book, and its advocacy of finding meaning and —if they think we’re in the clear, they’ll slack off. If
direc- tion as a way to triumph over adversity, really they think we’re in trouble, they’ll give up.”
stuck with Claussen. He thought he might be able to Cal Martins also questions the need to provide
apply its les- sons to his workforce. He proposed the infor- mation to the whole team, but he chose
idea of a new direction for management to the Program II. “A person should know where he or she
company’s executive committee, and they reluctantly stands in the job, but they don’t have to know about
agreed to try his sug- gestions. everyone else. It cre- ates unnecessary tension.”
Over the last 6 months, stores throughout the com- This is somewhat similar to Cindy Ang’s reason
pany have used a performance management system for picking Program V. “When we have our
that, as Claussen says, “gets people to buy into the brainstorming meetings, I learn what they [the
idea of performing so that they can see some real employees] think is most pressing, not what some
results in their stores. It’s all about seeing that your spreadsheet says. It gives me a better feel for what’s
work serves a broader purpose. I read about how some going on in my store. Num- bers count, of course, but
companies have been sharing store performance they don’t tell you everything. I was also a little
information with employees to get them to understand
worried that employees would be upset if they saw
what their jobs really mean and participate in making
that we aren’t performing well.”
changes, and I thought that was something we’d be
able to do.”
The HR team came up with five options for the
man- agement system. Corporate allowed individual Results to Date
man- agers to choose the option they thought would Claussen is convinced the most elaborate procedure
work best with their employees so that managers (Program IV) is the most effective, but not everyone
wouldn’t feel too much like a rapid change was being in the executive committee is won over by his
forced on them. Program I is opting out of the new advocacy. Although they have supported the test
idea, continu- ing to stay the course and providing implementation of the system because it appears to
employees with little to no information or have relatively low costs, others on the committee
opportunities for partici- pation. Program II tracks want to see results. CEO Jean Masterson has asked for
employee absence and sick leave data and shares that a complete breakdown of the performance of the
information with individual employees, giving them various stores over the past 4 years. She’s especially
feedback about things they can control. Management interested in seeing how sales figures and turnover
takes no further action. Program III tracks sales and rates have been affected by the new program.
inventory replacement rates across shifts. As in The company has been collecting data in spread-
Program II, information is shared with employees, but sheets on sales and turnover rates, and it prepared the
without providing employee feedback about absence following report, which also estimates the dollar cost
and sick leave data. Program IV, the most of staff time taken up in each method. These costs
comprehensive, tracks the same information as are based on the number of hours employees spend
Programs II and III. Managers communicate it in working on the program multiplied by their wage rate.
week- ly brainstorming sessions, during which Estimates of turnover, profit, and staff time are
employees try to determine what they can do better in collect- ed per store. Profit and turnover data include
the future and make suggestions for improving store means and standard deviations across locations; profit
performance. Program V keeps the idea of is net of the monthly time cost. Turnover information
brainstorming but doesn’t provide employees with refers to the percentage of employees who either quit
information about their behav- ior or company profits. or are terminated in a month.
Since implementing the system, Claussen has To see if any patterns emerged in managers’ selec-
spoken
with several managers about what motivated them to tion of programs, the company calculated relation-
choose the program they did. Artie Washington, who ships between program selection and various attributes
chose Program IV, said, “I want to have my employ- of the stores. Program I was selected most frequently
ees’ input on how to keep the store running smoothly. by the oldest stores and those in the most economical-
Everybody worries about their job security in this ly distressed areas. Programs II and III were selected
econo- my. Letting them know what’s going on and most frequently by stores in urban areas and in areas
giving them ways to change things keeps them where the workforce was younger on average. Pro-
involved.” grams IV and V were selected most frequently in stores
Betty Alvarez couldn’t disagree more. She selected in rural areas, and especially where the workforce is
Program I. “I would rather have my employees doing older on average.
their jobs than going to meetings to talk about doing
their jobs. That’s what management is for.” Michael
Case 1 Managing Motivation in a Difficult Economy 691

Number Avera Weekly Monthly

Program Metho of ge Profit per Staff
ds Stores Turnov Month Time
er Cost
Program I Traditional management 83 Mean = 30% Mean = $5,700 None
SD = 10% SD = $3,000
Program Share absence and sick leave 27 Mean = 23% Mean = $7,000 $1,960
II SD = 14% SD = $5,800
Program Share sales and inventory 35 Mean = 37% Mean = $11,000 $2,440
III SD = 20% SD = $2,700
Program Share information and 67 Mean = 17% Mean = $13,000 $3,420
IV brainstorm SD = 20% SD = $3,400
Program V Brainstorm without sharing 87 Mean = 21% Mean = $14,000 $2,750

Your Assignment Program I, which continues the status quo)

affect the inferences you can draw about pro-
Your task is to prepare a report for the company’s
gram success?
exec- utive committee on the effectiveness of these
CC-7. What are the advantages of randomly assign-
programs. Make certain it is in the form of a
ing different conditions to the stores instead of
professional business document. Your audience won’t
using this self-selection process?
necessarily know about the organizational principles
CC-8. How does the changing nature of the work-
you’re describing, so make sure you provide detailed
force and the economy, described in your
explanations that someone in a real business can
text- book and in the case, affect your
understand. conclusions about how to manage retail
When you write, make sure you touch on the
employees? Does the participation of a more
follow- ing points: experienced work- force help or hurt these
CC-1. Consider the five management systems as programs? Why might these programs work
vari- ables in an experiment. Identify the differently in an economy that isn’t doing so
indepen- dent and dependent variables, and poorly?
explain how they are related to one another. CC-9. Claussen essentially designed the program
CC-2. Based on the discussion of independent and on his own, with very little research into goal-
de- pendent variables in the textbook, is there setting and motivation. Based on your text-
any- thing else you’d like to measure as an book, how well has he done? Which parts of
outcome? the program appear to fit well with research
CC-3. Look over the data and decide which method evidence on goal-setting? What parts would
of management appears most effective in you change to get more substantial
gen- erating revenues and reducing turnover, improvements in employee motivation?
and why. Which methods appear least CC-10. Describe the feelings employees might have
effective, and why? when these systems are implemented that
CC-4. Are there any concerns you have about these could help or hinder the program’s success.
data? What advice would you give managers about
CC-5. Does a comparison of the number of stores how to implement the programs so they
using each method influence your conclusions match the principles of organizational justice
at all? described in your textbook?
CC-6. Does the fact that managers are select-
ing the specific program to use (including
692 Comprehensive Cases

Case

2 Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy

Learning Goals would use a competitor the next time they had a
plumb- ing problem.
Companies often divide up work as a way to improve Reynaldo is wondering whether DrainFlow’s job
efficiency, but specialization can lead to negative con- design might be contributing to its problems in re-
sequences. DrainFlow is a company that has effectively taining customers. DrainFlow has about 2,000 employ-
used specialization to reduce costs relative to its com- ees in four basic job categories: plumbers, plumber’s
petitors’ costs for years, but rising customer complaints assistants, order processors, and billing representa-
suggest the firm’s strong position may be slipping. Af- tives. This structure is designed to keep costs as low
ter reading the case, you will suggest some ways it can as possible. Plumbers make very high wages, whereas
create more interesting work for employees. You’ll also plumber’s assistants make about one-quarter of what a
tackle the problem of finding people qualified and licensed plumber makes. Using plumber’s assistants is
ready to perform the multiple responsibilities required therefore a very cost-effective strategy that has enabled
in these jobs. DrainFlow to easily undercut the competition when it
comes to price. Order processors make even less than
assistants but about the same as billing processors. All
Major Topic Areas work is very specialized, but employees are often de-
pendent on another job category to perform at their most
• Job design efficient level.
• Job satisfaction Like most plumbing companies, DrainFlow gets
• Personality business mostly from the Yellow Pages and the Inter-
• Emotional labor net. Customers either call in to describe a plumbing
problem or submit an online request for plumbing
services, receiving a return call with information
The Scenario within 24 hours. In either case, DrainFlow’s order
processors listen to the customer’s description of the
DrainFlow is a large residential and commercial problem to determine whether a plumber or a plumb-
plumb- ing maintenance firm that operates around the er’s assistant should make the service call. The job is
United States. It has been a major player in residential then assigned accordingly, and a service provider
plumb- ing for decades, and its familiar rhyming goes to the location. When the job has been
motto, “When Your Drain Won’t Go, Call DrainFlow,” completed, via cell phone a billing representative
has been plas- tered on billboards since the 1960s. relays the fee to the service rep, who presents a bill to
Lee Reynaldo has been a regional manager at the customer for payment. Billing representatives can
Drain- Flow for about 2 years. She used to work for a take customers’ credit card payments by phone or e-
newer competing chain, Lightning Plumber, that has mail an invoice for online payment.
been drawing more and more customers from
DrainFlow. Al- though her job at DrainFlow pays
more, Reynaldo isn’t happy with the way things are
going. She’s noticed the work environment just isn’t The Problem
as vital or energetic as the environment she saw at Although specialization does cut costs significantly,
Lightning. Reynaldo is worried about customer dissatisfaction.
Reynaldo thinks the problem is that employees According to her survey, about 25 percent of customer
aren’t motivated to provide the type of customer contacts ended in no service call because customers were
service Light- ning Plumber employees offer. She confused by the diagnostic questions the order
recently sent surveys to customers to collect processors asked and because the order processors
information about performance, and the data did not have sufficient knowledge or skill to explain
confirmed her fears. Although 60 percent of the situation. That means fully one in four people
respondents said they were satisfied with their expe- who call DrainFlow to hire a plumber are worse than
rience and would use DrainFlow again, 40 percent felt
their experience was not good, and 30 percent said
they
 Case 2 Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy 693

dissatisfied: they aren’t customers at all! The questions. Most of us don’t know any more about
remaining 75 percent of calls that did end in a plumbing than the caller. If they don’t use the terms
customer service encounter resulted in other on the survey, we don’t understand what they’re talk-
problems. ing about. A plumber would, but we’re not plumbers;
The most frequent complaints Reynaldo found in we just take the calls.”
the customer surveys were about response time and Customer service issues also involve the billing
cost, especially when the wrong person was sent to a rep- resentatives. They are the ones who have to keep
job. A plumber’s assistant cannot complete a more con- tacting customers about payment. “It’s not my
techni- cally complicated job. The appointment has to fault the wrong guy was sent,” says Elizabeth Monty.
be re- scheduled, and the customer’s time and the “If two guys went out, that’s two trips. If a plumber
staff’s time have been wasted. The resulting delay did the work, you pay plumber rates. Some of these
often caused customers in these situations to decline customers don’t get that I didn’t take their first call,
further con- tact with DrainFlow—many of them and so I get yelled at.” The billing representatives also
decided to go with Lightning Plumber. complain that they see only the tail end of the process,
“When I arrive at a job I can’t take care of,” says so they don’t know what the original call entailed. The
plumber’s assistant Jim Larson, “the customer gets job is fairly impersonal, and much of the work is
ticked off. They thought they were getting a licensed recording customer complaints. Remember—40
plumber, since they were calling for a plumber. Telling percent of cus- tomers aren’t satisfied, and it’s the
them they have to have someone else come out billing representa- tives who take the brunt of their
doesn’t go over well.” negative reactions on the phone.
On the other hand, when a plumber responds to As you can probably tell, all employees have to
a job easily handled by a plumber’s assistant, the cus- engage in emotional labor, as described in this text-
tomer is still charged at the plumber’s higher pay rate. book, and many lack the skills or personality traits
Licensed plumber Luis Berger also does not like to complete the customer interaction component of
being in the position of giving customers bad news. their jobs. They aren’t trained to provide customer
“If I get called out to do something like snake a drain, service, and they see their work mostly in technical,
the cus- tomer isn’t expecting a hefty bill. I’m caught or mechanical, terms. Quite a few are actually anxious
between a rock and a hard place—I don’t set the rates about speaking directly with customers. The office
or make the appointments, but I’m the one who gets it staff (order processors and billing representatives)
from the customer.” Plumbers also resent being sent to realize customer service is part of their job, but they
do such simple work. also find dealing with negative feedback from
Susie McCarty is one of DrainFlow’s order proces- custom- ers and coworkers taxing.
sors. She’s frustrated too when the wrong person is A couple of years ago a management consulting
sent to a job but feels she and the other order proces- company was hired to survey DrainFlow worker atti-
sors are doing the best they can. “We have a survey tudes. The results showed they were less satisfied than
we’re supposed to follow with the calls to find out workers in other comparable jobs. The following table
what the problem is and who needs to take the job,” provides a breakdown of respondent satisfaction levels
she explains. “The customers don’t know that we have across a number of categories:
a standard form, so they think we can answer all
their

DrainFl DrainFl Avera

DrainFl ow ow Avera ge
ow Plumbe Office ge Offic
Plumbe r Worker Plumb e
rs Assistan s er Work
ts ers
I am satisfied with the 3.7 2.5 2.5 4.3 3.5
work I am asked to do.
I am satisfied with my 3.8 2.4 3.7 4.1 4.2
working conditions.
I am satisfied with my interactions 3.5 3.2 2.7 3.8 3.9
with coworkers.
I am satisfied with my interactions 2.5 2.3 2.2 3.5 3.4
with my supervisor.
694 Comprehensive Cases

The information about average plumbers and aver- structured-interview programs. Make certain it is in
age office workers is taken from the management con- the form of a professional business document that
sulting company’s records of other companies. They you’d actually give to an experienced manager at this
aren’t exactly surprising, given some of the level of a fairly large corporation. Reynaldo is very
complaints DrainFlow employees have made. Top smart when it comes to managing finances and
management is worried about these results, but they running a plumb- ing business, but she won’t
haven’t been able to formulate a solution. The necessarily know about the organizational behavior
traditional DrainFlow cul- ture has been focused on principles you’re describing. Because any new
cost containment, and the “soft stuff” like employee proposals must be passed through top management,
satisfaction hasn’t been a major issue. you should also address their concerns about cost
containment. You’ll need to make a strong evidence-
based financial case that changing the man- agement
The Proposed Solution style will benefit the company.
When you write, make sure you touch on the follow-
The company is in trouble, and as revenues shrink and
ing points:
the cost savings that were supposed to be achieved by
dividing up work fail to materialize, a change seems CC-11. Although it’s clear employees are not
to be in order. especially satisfied with their work, do you
Reynaldo is proposing using cash rewards to think this is a reason for concern? Does research
improve performance among employees. She thinks suggest sat- isfied workers are actually better at
if employees were paid based on work outcomes, their jobs? Are any other behavioral outcomes
they’d work harder to satisfy customers. Because it’s associated with job satisfaction?
not easy to measure how satisfied people are with the CC-12. Using job characteristics theory, explain why
initial call-in, Reynaldo would like to give the order the present system of job design may be con-
pro- cessors a small reward for every 20 calls tributing to employee dissatisfaction. Describe
successfully completed. For the hands-on work, some ways you could help employees feel more
she’d like to have each billing representative collect satisfied with their work by redesigning their
information about customer satisfaction for each jobs.
completed call. If no complaints are made and the job CC-13. Reynaldo has a somewhat vague idea about
is handled promptly, a moderate cash reward would how to implement the cash rewards system.
be given to the plumb- er or plumber’s assistant. If Describe some of the specific ways you would
the customer indicates real satisfaction with the make the reward system work better, based on
service, a larger cash reward would be provided. the case.
Reynaldo also wants to find people who are a bet- CC-14. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of
ter fit with the company’s new goals. Current hiring using financial incentives in a program of this
procedure relies on unstructured interviews with each nature. What, if any, potential problems might
location’s general manager, and little consistency is arise if people are given money for achieving
found in the way these managers choose employees. customer satisfaction goals? What other types
Most lack training in customer service and organiza- of incentives might be considered?
tional behavior. Reynaldo thinks it would be better if CC-15. Create a specific plan to assess whether
hiring methods were standardized across all branches the reward system is working. What are the
in her region to help managers identify recruits who dependent variables that should change if the
can actually succeed in the job. system works? How will you go about
measur- ing success?
CC-16. What types of hiring recommendations
Your Assignment would you make to find people better suited
Your task is to prepare a report for Reynaldo on for these jobs? Which Big Five personality
the potential effectiveness of her cash reward and traits would be useful for the customer service
responsibilities and emotional labor?
Case 3 Building a Coalition 695

Case

3 Building a
Coalition

Learning Goals
Many of the most important organizational behavior
challenges require coordinating plans and goals
among groups. This case describes a
multiorganizational effort, but the same principles of
accommodation and com- promise also apply when and measurement staff; the school system will provide
trying to work with multiple divisions within a single classrooms and teaching staff.
organization. You’ll create a blueprint for managing a The first stage in bringing this new plan to fruition is
complex development team’s progress, steering team the formation of an executive development team. This
members away from negative conflicts and toward team will span multiple functional areas and establish
productive discussion. You’ll also be asked to help the operating plan for improving school performance.
create a new message for executives so they can lead Its cross-organizational nature means representatives
effectively. from both the Woodson Foundation and the school
district must participate. The National Coalition for
Parental Involvement in Education (NCPIE) is also
Major Topic Areas going to be a major partner in the program, acting as a
representative for parents on behalf of the PTA.
• Group dynamics
• Maximizing team performance
• Organizational culture Conflict and Agreement
• Integrative bargaining
in the Development Team
While it would be perfect if all the groups could work
The Scenario together easily to improve student outcomes, there is
little doubt some substantive conflicts will arise. Each
The Woodson Foundation, a large nonprofit social group has its own interests, and in some cases these are
service agency, is teaming up with the public school directly opposed to one another.
sys- tem in Washington, D.C., to improve student School district representatives want to ensure the
outcomes. There’s ample room for improvement. The new jobs will be unionized and will operate in a way
schools have problems with truancy, low student con- sistent with current school board policies. They
performance, and crime. New staff quickly burn out are very concerned that if Woodson assumes too
as their initial enthusiasm for helping students is dominant a role, the school board won’t be able to
blunted by the harsh realities they encounter in the control the operations of the new system. The
classroom. Turnover among new teachers is very high, complexity of the school system has led to the
and many of the best and brightest are the most likely development of a highly complex bureau- cratic
to leave for schools that aren’t as troubled. structure over time, and administrators want to make
The plan is to create an experimental after-school sure their policies and procedures will still hold for
program that will combine the Woodson Foundation’s teachers in these programs even outside the regular
skill in raising private money and coordinating com- school day. They also worry that jobs going into the
munity leaders with the educational expertise of new system will take funding from other school
school staff. Ideally, the system will be financially self- district jobs. Woodson, founded by entrepreneur
sufficient, which is important because less money is Theodore Wood- son around 1910, still bears the
available for schools than in the past. After several hallmarks of its founder’s way of doing business.
months of nego- tiation, the leaders of the Woodson Woodson emphasized efficiency and experimentation
Foundation and the school system have agreed that the in everything he did. Many of the foundation’s charities
best course is to develop a new agency that will draw have won awards for minimizing costs while still
on resources from both organizations. The Woodson providing excellent services. Their focus on using hard
foundation will provide logistical support and data to measure performance for all their initiatives is
program development not consistent with the school district culture. Finally,
the NCPIE is driven by a mission to increase parental
control. The organization believes that when
communities are able to drive their own educational
methods, students and parents are better able to
achieve success together. The organization is strongly
commit- ted to celebrating diversity along racial,
gender, ethnic,
696 Comprehensive Cases

and disability status categories. Its members are most best. The parents, at least, have more of a stake in this.”
interested in the process by which changes are made, “The most important thing is the kids,” says sec-
ensuring everyone has the ability to weigh in. ond-year teacher Ari Kaufman. He is well liked by his
Some demographic diversity issues complicate the students but doesn’t get along well with other faculty
team’s situation. Most of the students served by the members. He’s seen as a “squeaky wheel.” “The schools
Washington, D.C., school district are African Ameri- need change so badly. And how did they get this way?
can, along with large populations of Caucasians and From too little outside involvement.”
Hispanics. The NCPIE makeup generally matches the Community organizer Mason Dupree doesn’t like
demographic diversity of the areas served by the the level of bureaucracy either. He worries that the
public schools. The Woodson foundation, based in school’s answer to its problems is to throw more
northern Virginia, is predominantly staffed by
money at them. “I know these kids. I grew up in these
Caucasian profes- sionals. There is some concern with
neighborhoods. My parents knew every single teacher I
the idea that a new group that does not understand the
had. The schools wanted our involvement then. Now
demographic con- cerns of the community will be so
all they want is our money. And I wouldn’t mind
involved in a major change in educational
giving it to them if I thought it would be used
administration. The leadership of the new program
will have to be able to present an ef- fective message responsibly, not spent on raises for peo- ple who
for generating enthusiasm for the pro- gram across haven’t shown they can get the job done.”
diverse stakeholder groups. Meredith Watson, with the Woodson Foundation,
agrees the schools have become less focused on the
Although the groups differ in important ways, it’s
families. A former teacher, she left the field of educa-
also worth considering what they have in common.
tion after being in the classroom for 6 years. “There is
All are in- terested in meeting the needs of students.
so much waste in the system,” she complains. “Jobs are
All would like to increase student learning. The
unnecessarily duplicated, change processes are need-
school system does benefit from anything that lessly convoluted. Unless you’re an insider already, you
increases student test scores. And the Woodson can’t get anything done. These parents want to be in-
Foundation and NCPIE are united in their desire to volved. They know their kids best.”
see more parents engaged in the system. Unlike her NCPIE colleagues, Candace Sharpe
thinks the schools are doing the best they can. She is
a county social worker, relatively new to the D.C. area.
Candidates for the “Parents say they want to be involved but then don’t fol-
low through. We need to step it up, we need to lead the
Development Team way. Lasting change doesn’t come from the outside, it
comes from the home.”
The development team will consist of three individu- Victor Martinez has been at the Woodson Founda-
als—HR representatives from the Woodson tion for 10 years, starting as an intern straight out of
Foundation, the schools, and the NCPIE—who have col- lege. “It’s sometimes hard to see a situation when
prepared the following list of potential candidates for you’re in the thick of it,” he explains. “Nobody likes
consideration. to be told they’re doing something wrong, but
Victoria Adams is the superintendent of schools
sometimes it has to be said. We all know there are
for Washington, D.C. She spearheaded the initial
flaws in the system. We can’t keep the status quo. It
commu- nication with the Woodson Foundation and
just isn’t cutting it.”
has been building support among teachers and
principals. She thinks the schools and the foundation
need to have larg- er roles than the parents and
communities. “Of course we want their involvement Strategies for the
and support, but as the pro- fessionals, we should have
more say when it comes to making decisions and Program Team
implementing programs. We don’t want to shut
Once the basic membership and principles for the
anyone out, but we have to be realis- tic about what
development team have been established, the program
the parents can do.”
team would also like to develop a handbook for those
Duane Hardy has been a principal in the Washington
who will be running the new program. Ideally, this set
area for more than 15 years. He also thinks the schools
of principles can help train new leaders to create an
should have the most power. “We’re the ones who work
inspirational message that will facilitate success. The
with these kids every day. I’ve watched class sizes get big-
ac- tual content of the program and the nature of the
ger, and scores and graduation rates go down. Yes, we
mes- sage will be hammered out by the development
need to fix this, but these outside groups can’t under-
team, but it is still possible to generate some
stand the limitations we’re dealing with. We have the com-
overriding princi- ples for the program team in
munity, the politicians, the taxpayers—everyone watching
advance of these decisions.
what we’re doing, everyone thinking they know what’s
 Case 4 Boundaryless Organizations 697

Your Assignment groups and teams in the textbook to defend

The Woodson Foundation, the NCPIE, and the your choices.
CC-19. Using principles from the chapters on groups
schools have asked you to provide some information
and teams, describe how you will advise the
about how to form teams effectively. They would like
team to manage conflict effectively.
your response to explain what should be done at each
CC-20. Describe how integrative negotiation
step of the way, from the selection of appropriate team
strategies might achieve joint goals for the
members to set- ting group priorities and goals, setting
development team.
deadlines, and describing effective methods for
resolving conflicts that arise. After this, they’d like The following points should help you form a
you to prepare a brief set of principles for leaders of message for the program team:
the newly established program. That means you will CC-21.
Leadersofthenewcombinedorganizationshould
have two audiences: the develop- ment team, which have a good idea of the culture of the school
will receive one report on how it can effectively dis- trict, the NCPIE, and the Woodson
design the program, and the program team, which will Foundation because they will need to manage
receive one report on how it can effectively lead the relationships with all three groups on an
new program. ongoing basis. How would you describe the
The following points should help you form a com- culture of these various stakeholder
prehensive message for the development team: organizations? Use concepts from the chapter
CC-17. The development team will be more on organizational culture to de- scribe how
effective if members have some idea about they differ and how they are similar.
how groups and teams typically operate. CC-22. Consider how leaders of the new program can
Review the domi- nant perspectives on team gen- erate a transformational message and
formation and per- formance from the encourage employee and parent trust. Using
chapters in the book for the committee so it material from the chapter on leadership,
can know what to expect. describe how you would advise leaders to
CC-18. Given the profiles of candidates for the accomplish these ends.
development team, provide suggestions for CC-23. Given the potential for demographic fault
who would likely be a good group member lines in negotiating these changes, what
and who might be less effective in this situa- would you advise as a strategy for managing
tion. Be sure you are using the research on diversity issues for program leaders?

Case

4 Boundaryless
Organizations

Learning Goals • Human resources

The multinational organization is an increasingly • Organizational socialization
com- mon and important part of the economy. This
case takes you into the world of a cutting-edge music
software busi- ness seeking success across three very
different national and organizational cultures. Its The Scenario
managers need to make important decisions about Newskool Grooves is a transnational company
how to structure work pro- cesses so employees can develop- ing music software. The software is used to
be satisfied and productive do- ing very different compose music, play recordings in clubs, and produce
tasks. albums. Founder and CEO Gerd Finger is,
understandably, the company’s biggest fan. “I started
this company from nothing, from just me, my ideas,
Major Topic Areas and my computer. I love music—love playing
music, love writing pro- grams for making music,
• Organizational structure and love listening to music—and the money is nice, too.”
boundaryless organizations Finger says he never wanted to work for someone
• Organizational culture else, to give away his ideas and let someone else
profit from them. He wanted to keep
698 Comprehensive Cases

control over them, and their image. “Newskool music tools, and it has had to move into the
Grooves is always ahead of the pack. In this business, production of hardware, such as drum machines and
if you can’t keep up, you’re out. And we are the amplifiers that incorporate its computer technology.
company everyone else must keep up with. Everyone Making this massive market change might be
knows when they get something from us, they’re challenging for some companies, but for an
getting only the best and the newest.” organization that reinvents it- self every 2 or 3 years
The company headquarters are in Berlin, the nerve like Newskool does, the bigger fight is a constant war
center for the organization, where new products are against stagnation and rigidity.
developed and the organizational strategy is estab- The organization has a very decentralized culture.
lished. Newskool outsources a great deal of its coding With only 115 employees, the original management
work to programmers in Kiev, Ukraine. Its marketing philosophy of allowing all employees to participate in
efforts are increasingly based in its Los Angeles offic- decision making and innovation is still the lifeblood
es. This division of labor is at least partially based on of the company’s culture. One developer notes, “At
technical expertise and cost issues. The German team News- kool, they want you to be part of the process. If
excels at design and production tasks. Because most you are a person who wants to do what you’re told at
of Newskool’s customers are English speakers, the work, you’re in trouble. Most times, they can’t tell
Los Angeles office has been the best group to write you what they want you to do next—they don’t even
ads and market products. The Kiev offices are filled know what comes next! That’s why they hire
with outstanding programmers who don’t require the employees who are creative, people who can try to
very high rates of compensation you’d find in German make the next thing happen. It’s chal- lenging, but a
or U.S. offices. The combination of high-tech soft- lot of us think it’s very much an exciting
ware, rapid reorganization, and outsourcing makes environment.”
Newskool the very definition of a boundaryless orga-
nization.
Finger also makes the final decision on hiring
every employee for the company and places a heavy The Boundaryless Environment
empha- sis on independent work styles. “Why would I Because so much of the work can be performed on
want to put my company in the hands of people I can’t computers, Finger decided early to allow employees
count on?” he asks with a laugh. “They have to to work outside the office. The senior management
believe in what we’re doing here, really understand in Berlin and Los Angeles are both quite happy with
our direction and be able to go with it. I’m not the this arrangement. Because some marketing work does
babysitter, I’m not the school master handing out require face-to-face contact, the Los Angeles office
homework. School time is over. This is the real has weekly in-person meetings. Employees who like
world.” News- kool are happiest when they can work through
the night and sleep most of the day, firing up their
com- puters to get work done at the drop of a hat.
The Work Culture Project discussions often happen via social
networking on the company’s intranet.
Employees want to work at this company because it’s The Kiev offices have been less eager to work with
cutting edge. Newskool’s software is used by a the boundaryless model. Managers say their comput-
number of dance musicians and DJs, who have been er programmers find working with so little structure
the firm’s core market, seeing it as a relatively rather uncomfortable. They are more used to the idea
expensive but very high-quality and innovative brand. of a strong leadership structure and well-defined work
Whenever the rest of the market for music software processes.
goes in one direction, it seems like Newskool heads in “When I started,” says one manager, “Gerd said
a completely different direction in an effort to keep getting in touch with him would be no problem,
itself separate from the pack. This strategy has tended getting in touch with L.A. would be no problem.
to pay off. While com- petitors develop similar We’re small, we’re family, he said. Well, it is a
products and therefore need to continually lower their problem. When I call L.A., they say to wait until their
prices to compete with one another, Newskool has meeting day. I can’t always wait until they decide to
kept revenues high by creating completely new types get together. I call Gerd—he says, ‘Figure it out.’
of products that don’t face this type of price Then when I do, he says it isn’t right and we have to
competition. start again. If he just told me in the first place, we
Unfortunately, computer piracy has eroded News- would have done it.”
kool’s ability to make money with just software-based Some recent events have also shaken up the com-
pany’s usual way of doing business. Developers in
 Case 4 Boundaryless Organizations 699

the corporate offices had a major communications challenges of so many workers heading in so many
breakdown about their hardware DJ controller, which dif- ferent directions. You will need to prepare a
required many hours of discussion to resolve. It seems report for the company’s executive committee. Your
that people who seldom met face to face had all made report should read like a proposal to a corporate
progress—but had moved in opposite directions. executive who has a great deal of knowledge about
To test and design the company’s hardware products, the technical aspects of his company but might not
employees apparently need to do more than send each have much knowledge of organizational behavior.
other code; sometimes they need to collaborate face When you write, make sure you touch on the
to face. Some spirited disagreements have been voiced follow- ing points:
within the organization about how to move forward in
this new environment. CC-24. Identify some of the problems likely to occur
The offices are experiencing additional difficulties. in a boundaryless organization like Newskool
Since the shift to newer products, Sandra Pelham in the Grooves. What are the advantages of boundary-
Los Angeles office has been more critical of the com- less organizations?
pany. “With the software, we were more limited in the CC-25. Consider some of the cultural issues that will
kinds of advertising media we could access. So now, affect a company operating in such different
with the hardware—real instruments—we finally parts of the world and whose employees may
thought, ‘All right, this is something we can work with!’ not be representative of the national cultures
We had a whole slate of musicians and DJs and of each country. Are the conflicts you
producers to contact for endorsements, but Gerd said, observe a function of the different types of
‘No way.’ He didn’t want customers who only cared that work people have to perform?
a celebrity liked us. He scrapped the whole campaign. CC-26. Based on what you know about motivation
He says we’re all about creativity and doing our own and personality, what types of people are
thing— until we don’t want to do things his way.” likely to be satisfied in each area of the
Although the organization is not without problems, company? Use concepts from job
there is little question Newskool has been a stand- characteristics theory and the emerging social
out success in the computer music software industry. relationships perspec- tive on work to
While many are shuttering their operations, Newskool describe what might need to change to
is using its market power to push forward the next increase employee satisfaction in all areas.
generation of electronic music-making tools. As Gerd CC-27. What types of human resources practices
Finger puts it, “Once the rest of the industry has got- ten need to be implemented in this sort of
together and figured out how they’re all going to cope organiza- tion? What principles of selection
with change, they’ll look around and see that we’re and hiring are likely to be effective? Which
already three miles ahead of them down the road to Big Five traits and abilities might Newskool
the future.” supervisors want to use for selection?
CC-28. What kind of performance measures might
Your Assignment you want to see for each office?
Finger has asked for your advice on how to keep his CC-29. How can the company establish a socialization
organization successful. He wants to have some sort program that will maximize employee creativ-
of benchmark for how other boundaryless organiza- ity and independence? Do employees in all its
tions in the tech sector stay competitive despite the locations need equal levels of creativity?
700 Comprehensive Cases

Case

5 The Stress of Caring

Learning Goals come under increasing government scrutiny following

investigations that turned up widespread patient abuse
One of the most consistent changes in the structure of and billing fraud. Parkway has always had outstanding
work over the past few decades has been a shift from patient care, and no substantiated claim of abuse or
a manufacturing economy to a service economy. More ne- glect in any of its homes has ever been made, but
workers are now engaged in jobs that include provid- the need for increased documentation will still affect
ing care and assistance, especially in education and the company. As the federal government tries to trim
medicine. This work is satisfying for some people, but Medi- care expenses, Parkway may face a reduction in
it can also be highly stressful. In the following funding.
scenario, consider how a company in the nursing care
industry is responding to the challenges of the new
environment.
The Problem
As growth has continued, Parkway has remained com-
Major Topic Areas mitted to providing dignity and health to all residents
in its facilities. The board of directors wants to see
• Stress
renewed commitment to the firm’s mission and core
• Organizational change
values, not a diffusion of its culture. Its members are
• Emotions
worried there might be problems to address.
• Leadership
Interviews with employees suggest there’s plenty to
worry about.
Shift leader Maxine Vernon has been with Parkway
The Scenario for 15 years. “Now that the government keeps a closer
eye on our staffing levels, I’ve seen management do
Parkway Nursing Care is an organization facing a
what it can to keep positions filled, and I don’t always
mas- sive change. The company was founded in 1972
agree with who is hired. Some of the basic job skills
with just two nursing homes in Phoenix, Arizona. The can be taught, sure, but how to care for our patients—
company was very successful, and throughout the a lot of these new kids just don’t pick up on that.”
1980s it contin- ued to turn a consistent profit while “The problem isn’t with staff—it’s with Parkway’s
slowly acquiring or building 30 more units. This focus on filling the beds,” says nurse’s aide Bobby Reed.
low-profile approach changed forever in 1993 when “When I started here, Parkway’s reputation was still about
venture capitalist Robert Quine decided to make a the service. Now it’s about numbers. No one is intention-
major investment in expand- ing Parkway in return ally negligent—there just are too many patients to see.”
for a portion of its profits over the coming years. The A recent college graduate with a B.A. in psychol-
number of nursing homes exploded, and Parkway was ogy, Dalton Manetti is more stressed than he expected
operating 180 homes by the year 2000. The company he would be. “These aren’t the sweet grannies you see
now has 220 facilities in the southwest- ern United in the movies. Our patients are demanding. They com-
States, with an average of 115 beds per facil- ity and a plain about everything, even about being called patients,
total of nearly 30,000 employees. In addition to health probably because most of them think they shouldn’t be
care facilities, it also provides skilled in-home nursing here in the first place. A lot of times, their gripes amount
care. Parkway is seen as one of the best care to nothing, but we have to log them in anyway.”
facilities in the region, and it has won numerous Carmen Frank has been with Parkway almost a
awards year and is already considering finding a new job. “I
for its achievements in the field. knew there were going to be physical parts to this job,
As members of the Baby Boom generation become and I thought I’d be able to handle that. It’s not like I
senior citizens, the need for skilled care will only was looking for a desk job, you know? I go home after
increase. Parkway wants to make sure it is in a good every shift with aches all over—my back, my arms,
posi- tion to meet this growing need. This means the my legs. I’ve never had to take so much time off from
com- pany must continue expanding rapidly. a job because I hurt. And then when I come back, I
The pressure for growth is one significant feel like the rest of the staff thinks I’m weak.”
challenge, but it’s not the only one. The nursing home
industry has
 Case 5 The Stress of Caring 701

Injuri Certifi Other

es per Incident ed Absences Turnov
Yea Patients Staff s per Absenc per er
r Memb Patient es per Staff Rate
er Staff
200 21,200 3. 4. 4.55 3. 0.
0 32 98 14 31
200 22,300 3. 5. 5.09 3. 0.
1 97 37 31 29
200 22,600 4. 5. 4.71 3. 0.
2 87 92 47 28
200 23,100 4. 6. 5.11 3. 0.
3 10 36 61 35
200 23,300 4. 6. 5.66 4. 0.
4 21 87 03 31

“I started working here right out of high school because it can support. The human resources department conduct-
was the best-paid of the jobs I could get,” says Niecey Wilson. ed focus groups, asking employees to describe some of
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now I really their concerns and suggestions for the future. The focus
like my job. Next year I’m going to start taking some groups highlighted a number of suggestions, although
night classes so I can move into another position. But some of they don’t all suggest movement in the same direction.
the staff just think of this as any other job. They don’t see the Many suggestions concerned schedule flexibility.
patients as people, more like inventory. If they want to work One representative comment was this: “Most of the
with inventory, they should get a job in retail.” stress on this job comes because we can’t take time off
Last month, the company’s human resources depart- when we need it. The LPNs [licensed practical nurses,
ment pulled the above information from its records at the who do much of the care] and orderlies can’t take time
request of the board of directors. The numbers provide some off when they need to, but a lot of them are single
quantitative support for the concerns voiced by staff. parents or pri- mary caregivers for their own children.
Injuries to staff occur mostly because of back When they have to leave for child care
strain from lifting patients. Patient incidents reflect responsibilities, the work suffers and there’s no
injuries due to slips, falls, medication errors, or other contingency plan to help smooth things over. Then
accidents. Certified absences are days off from work everyone who is left has to work extra hard. The
due to medi- cally verified illnesses or injuries. Other person who takes time off feels guilty, and there can
absences are days missed that are not due to injuries be fights over taking time off. If we had some way of
or illnesses; these are excused absences (unexcused covering these emergency absences, we’d all be a lot
absences are grounds for immediate firing). happier, and I think the care would be a lot better.”
Other suggestions proposed a better method for
communicating information across shifts. Most of the
documentation for shift work is done in large spiral
Using Organizational notebooks. When a new shift begins, staff members
Development to say they don’t have much time to check on what hap-
pened in the previous shift. Some younger caregivers
Combat Stress and would like to have a method that lets them document
Improve Performance patient outcomes electronically because they type
faster than they can write. The older caregivers are
The company wants to use such organizational more com- mitted to the paper-based process, in part
development methods as appreciative inquiry (AI) to because they think switching systems would require a
create change and reenergize its sense of mission. As lot of work. (Government regulations on health care
the chapter on organizational change explains, AI reporting require that any documentation be made in a
proce- dures systematically collect employee input and form that cannot be altered after the fact, to prevent
then use this information to create a change message covering up abuse, so specialized software systems
everyone must be used for electronic documentation.)
Finally, the nursing care staff believes its perspec-
tives on patient care are seldom given an appropriate
702 Comprehensive Cases

hearing. “We’re the ones who are with the patients CC-31. The company is going to be making some
most of the time, but when it comes to doing this the sig- nificant changes based on the AI process,
right way, our point of view gets lost. We really could and most change efforts are associated with
save a lot of money by eliminating some of these resis- tance. What are the most common
unnecessary routines and programs, but it’s something forms of resistance, and which would you
management always just says it will consider.” Staff expect to see at Parkway?
members seem to want some way to provide CC-32. Given the board of directors’ desire to
suggestions for improvement, but it isn’t clear what reener- gize the workforce, what advice
method they would prefer. would you pro- vide for creating a leadership
strategy? What leader behaviors should
Your Assignment nursing home direc- tors and nurse
Parkway has taken some initial steps toward a new supervisors demonstrate?
direc- tion, but clearly it has a lot of work left to do. CC-33. What are the major sources of job stress at
You’ve been brought in as a change management Parkway? What does the research on employee
consultant to help the company change its culture and stress suggest you should do to help minimize
respond to the stress that employees experience. the experience of psychological strain for em-
Remember to create your report as if for the leadership ployees? Create a plan for how to reduce stress
of a major corporation. among employees.
When you write your recommendations, make sure CC-34. Based on the information collected in the
you touch on the following points: focus groups, design a survey to hand out
to employees. What sort of data should the
CC-30. What do the data on employee injuries, inci- survey gather? What types of data analy-
dents, absences, and turnover suggest to you? sis methods would you like to employ for
Is there reason for concern about the these data?
company’s direction?