Organizational Behaviour in Millennium Advertising - Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Case Analysis (Easy-Money Department and Millennium Presence Advertising) Communication Although the merger between Millennium Advertising and an American firm will ensure the reduction of uncertainties impelled by competition, it has likewise created reservations, suspicions and feelings of despondency within the Canadian organization, something which would have been resolved if effective communication channels have been opened and if effectual communication processes have been put to work. Noticeably, it has generated communication problems between the firm’s higher officers and its employees because of the conflicting role demands that the alliance has produced. As what usually happens, differing responsibility requirements cause communication issues between managers and employees because many managers have a hard time balancing task and social-emotional role demands; in the case of Helen (who used to have a very satisfactory working relationship with Dan), she might just be overwhelmed with her new responsibilities and it is possible that she too -- just like the rest of the firm’s rank and file -- have her own private worries about the future of her career that caused her to change her ways in dealing with those under her command. Millennium’s downward communication structure exacerbates the adjustment difficulties taking place since the merger. In an ideal scenario, Helen should have established an open door policy wherein any organizational member below her (most especially Dan) can communicate directly without going through the chain. Likewise, she must place Dan in the picture and enlighten him on what is to be expected from the merger and how this will affect their standing in the company, how such organizational development might influence the way their career paths will go and how the two companies’ coalition will shape their future. However, this is not what has actually taken place. Together with the change in organizational structure, Helen also changed her methods of dealing with Dan; she has become mum about things that should have been discussed and just went about her way as if no drastic changes have transpired within the company. She has become so inaccessible that Dan started to distrust her; her “remoteness” amplified the anxieties that Dan has been going through since Millennium decided to merge with the Chicago-based organization. Similarly, despite the practiced downward communication structure within the company, Dan should have taken the initiative to talk to Helen and open up his apprehensions and concerns about his future with the firm so that he wouldn’t feel so bottled up; he should have clarified with his superior whatever information he has obtained from the grapevine; Dan should not have disregarded the fact that information acquired from grapevines is emotionally charged information and is most likely warped, twisted and usually inaccurate. Apparently, the basic principles of effective communication – timely and specific feedback, taking the time to efficiently communicate, to be accepting of other individuals, active listening, saying what one really feels (or thinks) and not confusing the person with the problem at hand -- are definitely absent in the Millennium Advertising case. In the situation of Easy-Money Department, communication flows poorly and feedback is almost non-existent, in addition, all forms of communication – whether downward, upward or horizontal – appear not to work. Likewise, there is an issue with the chain of command within the organization. For instance, in the situation where some kind of slipup occurred in the systems and planning department, the production group automatically assumes responsibility, something which should not be the case. Although it is unfair to judge Mr. Wallace’ (Karl’s superior) lack of feedback about current and completed projects as indicative of “indifference” or “lack of interest” in the projects or in his direct subordinates’ performance, such “unresponsiveness” can be perceived or interpreted as such and can ruin the morale of workers (Karl particularly). This type of “coldness” runs parallel to what Dan has experienced with Helen. It must be understood that a worker also has the need to know if the work he/she has accomplished is at par with the standards expected by the company; if such information is withheld from a worker (though non-communication), this would definitely have an impact on the worker’s productivity and motivation to work hard and give out excellent performance. Correspondingly, the act of managers making decisions without the participation and contribution of workers is not a positive practice since such action will wrongfully suggest to the workers that they are not part of the group or that their involvement is not really needed. As it is, an intrinsic principle of strategic management is to allow employees to actively participate and contribute to the growth and well-being of the company because this will provide them a sense of belongingness and a sense of fulfillment for every achievement that the organization attains. Leadership An agreeable personality is one of the traits of a good manager/leader and a requisite for effective leadership, however, it is not a guarantee that everything will turn out fine within an organization. In the case of Karl’s manager (Mr. Wallace), despite his agreeable persona, people under him are still unsatisfied and this is because he failed to meet a basic need of working people, that is, to provide satisfactory feedback and adequate professional opinions on their accomplishments. It would appear that as long as his subordinates know what to do and as long as they have worked on the tasks assigned to them, Mr. Wallace thinks that all the objectives of the company will be met. In this scenario, the department is high on the social relationship scale but low on leader-member relations. In House’s Path-Goal Theory, a significant aspect of effective leadership is that a manager/leader’s actions and decisions must clarify the paths to various goals which are of interest to employees. In this situation, knowing whether they have done well and have accomplished their tasks (this is true especially to those workers who are ‘achievement-oriented’) is an interest to employees and Mr. Wallace failed to provide this type of information to his subordinates. An act like this from a manager can severely affect morale, workers’ motivation for excellence, current task structures and relations within the whole organization. In comparison, Helen and Dan’s situation of Millennium Advertising is a little bit different. Helen’s “distance” from Dan was brought about by the onslaught of additional functions and concerns; it was not that she behaved that way from the very beginning of their working relationship. Another failure of Easy-Money managers is to get to know their workers well so that they (the managers) will be informed of what motivates them, what will make them happy and contented, in short, what will make these employees “tick.” The Systems and Planning managers’ decision to take off Karl from his current assignment is proof that they don’t know Karl that well because if they do then they should have known that Karl is totally happy with his current task and such disposition could have driven him to give out excellent performance which can surely be translated into high financial returns for the whole organization. Taking him off from something that he likes to do (without prior meetings and consultations) mean three things – 1) it indicates that the managers’ are not concerned of their subordinates’ well-being; 2) these managers don’t really care what their subordinates think and feel because if they do then they should have at least inquired first from Karl how he feels and what he thinks if ever he will be taken off from his current assignment; they should have at least given Karl the chance to ventilate his inner thoughts/feelings about the whole thing; 3) the managers’ act of making the decision without the employee’s input puts across the message that the workers are just “mere machines,” that they do not really count, that they are not human. Mr. Wallace, as Karl’s direct superior, has the power to intercede and has the authority to get involved, but he did not. In an ideal scenario, Wallace could have “fought” for Karl and should have explained to the Systems and Planning managers that Karl is perfect for what he’s presently doing and that Karl’s staying in his current assignment will be more beneficial to the company and to everyone concerned and that taking him off will mean more damage to the project and will have adverse consequences on the other team members’ disposition.. As it is, job design is a high motivator of performance and worker’s productivity. Using the Job Characteristics Model as a foundation, a job’s core characteristics correspond to an individual’s essential psychological states which have specific outcomes. Like for instance, in Karl’s situation – if he is allowed to stay in his current task assignment (of which he likes doing and which he finds challenging) this will have strong impact on the way he handles the job since the task has meaning to him; since the task is meaningful to him it will lead to high internal motivation and because he is highly motivated and because he is extremely inspired and stimulated, accomplishing the job ensures high growth satisfaction within him which in turn will produce high work effectiveness and will benefit the company as a whole. On the contrary, Dan and Helen’s situation suggests that as far as leader-member relation is concerned, it has been satisfactory until the merger took place. With Dan’s task structure which is relatively simple, it can be safely assumed that he knows his job very well except that he is wary and cautious in initiating things, perhaps because he is older than the rest and that he feels that he should be circumspect in taking action so as not to jeopardize his present position, however, such attitude can also be a cause of damage because with the present circumstances his inaction and indecision have triggered untold anxieties and may later cause him to become totally ineffective as a worker. Likewise, Helen has power to change or at least to make things better for her subordinates, nonetheless, she is not doing anything to lighten the psychological load that Dan is experiencing, in effect, this has made her an “insensitive” leader in the eyes of those under her command and most especially in the eyes of Dan. As far as Helen’s leadership behavior is concerned, her directive style of management, gives the impression that she trusts Dan so much, however, with the occurrence of the merger that caused so much apprehensions among her people, she should have shifted to a more supportive type of leadership so as not to generate unwarranted questions and unnecessary apprehensions in her workers’ minds. Likewise, she should have intensified her way of “being one” with the workers like before when she practiced a more democratic and participative mode of leadership among her staff. Motivation It would appear that although an important goal of Millennium Advertising is to smooth the progress of a successful merger, the attitudes that came with this organizational development would not seem to favor for such outcome. Apparently, because of the apprehensions, distrust, concealed anxieties within and among the rank and file, motivation will definitely be influenced and such will certainly affect the organization’s objectives. Valence, the expected value of outcomes and the extent to which they are perceived to be attractive or unattractive to a worker, in the case of Dan, is low and posits a negative consequence because he exhibited a withdrawn state of disposition, has become quiet and unproductive. In its totality, in order to make the merger an effective one, a merger that could deliver the envisioned gains, Millennium Advertising should have engaged a management by objectives path wherein the aims and goals of the organization as a whole are designed and developed by top management and diffused down through the organization. These company goals are then converted into explicit behavioural objectives for individual workers and middle managers, that is, they must be transformed into: a) Personal development objectives; and b) Performance objectives. Likewise, the MBO process should involve manager-employee dealings in which: The manager meets with individual workers to develop and agree on employee objectives; There are periodic meetings to monitor employee progress in achieving objectives; An appraisal meeting is held to evaluate the extent to which the agreed objectives have been achieved. All these were not given due consideration and attention which inevitably led to extremely low morale within the workforce. The merger which should have been a significant motivator for the company’s employees turned out to become an “enemy” because it adversely changed people and the way things are being handled. This is something that should have been anticipated by management people. In the case of Karl, if Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model will be used, the need for self-actualization was apparent in his astonishment that he was being taken off from a project that he thought could provide him growth and the needed professional satisfaction. If the Systems Planning managers believe that Karl’s expertise can benefit the organization then they should consider this aspect – Karl’s need to self-actualize – but since they didn’t take the effort to know their workers well (and specifically Karl) then they are not aware that taking off this man from an activity he loves is tantamount to “killing” his motivation to give out excellent performance. Moreover, parallel to Maslow’s Need model, Alderfer’s Theory specifies a worker’s need for growth, relatedness and existence. Again, taking off Karl from his current post and without prior consultation, destroys his need for professional and personal growth, his need for belongingness and to be in his “safety zone.” In addition, McLelland’s Needs Theory, especially the need for achievement has likewise been violated. Karl’s powerful craving to perform demanding tasks well makes him feel disappointed that he will be taken from a post that has given him enough professional challenge; and because he desires achievement, he also aspires to obtain performance feedback which Mr. Wallace does not provide. Change Management The Millennium Advertising scenario is a classic example of positive development” change gone “haywire,” a change that has not been strategically managed by everyone concerned that instead of providing positive and beneficial consequences, eventually gave out “negative consequences.” Evidently, the merger could have been an excellent instrument for the firm to strive harder, aim for higher objectives, for the employees to aspire for better work ethics and for the entire firm to anticipate and project higher financial returns. However, this was not the case. With the significant change (such as a merger), anxieties surfaced, distrust emerged, apprehensions for the future hang in the air like a huge axe about to fall and almost everyone succumbed to insecurity. In the case of Easy-Money, the drastic decision to take off Karl from his current position can be considered a change that needs to be handled with utmost care. Even if the managers thought that taking Karl out and moving him to another department with a different assignment, they should have properly consulted with him first, not just out rightly inform him of the development. As it is, managing change is an organized method of transforming individuals, teams, altering systems and ways of doing thing within organizations from its present state to an aspired future condition. It entails both organizational change management processes and individual change management models that altogether are employed to direct everyone who will be affected by the change. Organizational change management courses of action include procedures for creating a change management strategy, like for example readiness assessments, turning senior managers as change leaders, as in the case of sponsorships, building and promoting awareness of the need for change (communications), increasing skills and knowledge to prop up and sustain the change (education and training), assisting workers to move through the transition gracefully (coaching by managers and supervisors), and methods to carry on with the change (measurement systems, rewards and reinforcement). All these should have been undertaken by Millennium Advertising to ensure that with the huge organizational development that took place, things can be handled adequately, both for management and employees’ side. Likewise, managements responsibility, again in the case if Millennium, is to become aware of developments and drifts in the macro-environment as well as in the micro-environment so that they can start to spot and recognize the “side-effects” and begin initiating programs. In addition, it is also significant to approximate the effects and projected impacts that the change will probably have on the workers’ behavior patterns, work ethic and processes, technological requirements, and workers’ motivation. In both cases (Millennium and Easy-Money), management must review and properly evaluate what the employee reactions will be and design a change program that will provide support employees undergo the process of accepting change and living with the transformations that go with it. Such programs must then be executed, circulated and publicized all throughout the firm, must be monitored for effectiveness, and where necessary, adjustments must be made in a prompt manner. As it is, business enterprises exist within a dynamic environment that is subject to vigorous change because of the effects and influences that numerous change triggers, such as fast-paced globalization and the inherent evolving technologies that emerge with it. To carry on operating effectively within this environmental instability and “commotions,” business firms must be able to efficiently respond and change themselves in reaction to internally and externally initiated change. On the other hand, change will also have strong bearing on the individuals comprising the business organization. Valuable and effectual change management demands that management possess an understanding of the potential effects of change upon their people and how to deal with the prospective sources of conflict to that change. Evidently, the two business firms, especially Millennium, were not able to handle well the change that transpired within the organization. Though these firms’ future must not be judged solely on how they are dealing with the changes and present activities and attitudes, it can be safely said that if the current dispositions will not take a positive turn, these companies will suffer an adverse ending. Read More