Lesson 7 Case Studies

Lesson 7 Case Studies
Milan Shrestha
International American University
MGT 500 : Organizational Behavior and Leadership
Sushil Pant
October 21, 2014

Chapter 13
Leading Effective Teams
The given case is about leading team with effectiveness. The case relates to Soda Can Company where I am working as an Executive Director for the company. Soda Can Company is planning to open a new store and I have to put together a strong team quickly to cover up and perform the task quickly. I have to choose the best group members so that the task is performed well and achieve the desired objectives in time. So I have chosen Jim Beam as the store manager, Julie Stevens as a production specialists and recruiting internal employees. Thus, it is my responsibility to increase their readiness level. Hence I as an executive director had to form an effective team with high performance level forming better teamwork to achieve objectives in the right time.
Review/Analysis of the Case
Analysis of Findings
The case is related to Soda Can Company which is going to open its new store in a very short period. And I as an executive director of stores had to put together a strong team to perform effectively. I managed to form a team including Jim Beam, Julie Stevens and also recruiting internal employees. But during the task performance as a group, everyone is dissatisfied with the performance of Jim Beam. Numerous complaining and comments is made against Jim’s behavior and his performance. So I am confused if I should give them time to understand each other or should I take some actions towards Jim.
Question 1: Response to Elizabeth My response to Elizabeth will be that the team which I had build up is performing well meeting the company expectations. The team is performing as per the company needs with high performance readiness level and also showing a high team effort. The track record of sales and revenue is highly improved which had been possible with the team effort. I will respond to Elizabeth saying that while team work there had been some issues, obstacles due to shared values in between the teams which arise due to incomplete information and communication. So I will try to build a strong communication and coordination among the team members so that there is the sharing of information and problems arise can be solved within themselves.
Question 2: Explaining Jim’s early leadership style Jim Beam is appointed to be the store Manager for the new store of Soda Can Company. I have chosen Jim based on his experience and track record with competitors. To Eilzabeth, I will say that at first when Jim was hired I noticed a little more of him as he was full to himself which was more than self-confidence but I thought it would help to the performance of the team. Later on when the store was opened and analyzing the performance statistics of the team, I came to know a lot of complaints, comments, issues over the behavior and performance of Jim from Julie and other employees. Jim’s early leadership style can be related to delegating style. I will share to Elizabeth that Jim was trying to exaggerate his powers by bullying other staffs, also making other staffs feel low by making personal statements. In my view, Jim’s leadership style should have been specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time related.

Question 3: Tracking closely with the team
A team has been established to perform well in order to achieve the high sales revenue of Soda Can Company. So to maintain the high performance readiness level of the team members as well as the individuals involved in the goal attainment, both should be tracked closely. Organizations are faced with the incredible pressure of surviving in a competitive environment. Since the use of teamwork is one of the most consistent strategies for improving performance. So tracking their performance, analyzing their effectiveness provides better working statistics. If required I shall intervene and make follow as well. More over to track the new team by using the leadership style appropriate to each team members and by diagnosing their performance readiness level. I’ll create a hierarchy of teams and use the right member to the right job. I’ll first find out the reason for Jim’s management approach and then the problems occurring due to such behavior.
Question 4: Approaching Jim about team’s performance Jim is the store manager so he should be provided with the information of the team’s performance from the beginning. Even though the environment was little difficult for other personnel to work with Jim, the overall performance of Jim Beam as a store manager was quite satisfactory. I would approach Jim that he needs time to get adopt in the new situation. I would also say Jim that he is experienced and has proven his performance level so he just needs to adapt and make communication with the staffs for better team performance.
Question 5: Suggestions to Julie
I would tell them that Jim Beam is a good leader. They can see Jim’s past track records which proved him that he has performed very well. But because he is new to the situation and new working environment, he had been in pressure. The new work is being a little complex to him and that is why he is being hard to deal with so I suggest them to give him some time to ease down and tell them everything will be ok and just wait for some time and he will change after ward and if not than the necessary action will be taken later against him.
Summary and Conclusion After analyzing this case, it seems that Jim Beam who is appointed as a store manager is doing task as per his experience in previous companies. So, overall I come to the conclusion that this case is lacking some of the skill which will be maintained in the future and goes to the passive and the constructive work. The leadership style and the readiness level should be highly focused so that it increases the personal skill as well as the individual performance in the organization. Reference
Adhikari, Dev Raj (2009) Organizational Behavior
Hersey and Blanchard (2008) Management of Organizational Behavior

Chapter 14
Managing People to Perform The given case is about Rebecca Que, an assistant manager at Axis Inc. In the case, Axis Inc. has instituted new guidelines which are flexible around the appropriate attire including piercings and tattoos. Along with her colleagues, she was provided with a printed copy of the new standards and these included a list of resources for her to contact if she had any questions or concerns which she has not yet read. She also thinks that the new standards are only for those at the corporate office but style, personal branding is important to Axis Inc. So she is going to get another piercing in her nose and getting a bold new tattoo on her forearm.
Review/Analysis of the Case
Analysis of Findings The case is related to the Axis Inc. instituting new flexible guidelines regarding the attire, piercings and tattoos. Rebecca Que thinks that these guidelines are only to the employees at the corporate office. Regardless Rebecca thinks that style, personal branding are important to Axis Inc. For example, Georgio Armani is the most branded company in the world. If the sales representative of this company wears simple common design clothes then the customers will not buy from their store. So he must apply to wear designer Armani clothes so that he impresses customers/clients with his outer look.

Question 1: Managing Rebecca’s performance using ACHIIEVE model The ACHIEVE model was designed to assist managers to do more than just identify what performance problems exist. The model isolates seven factors that influence the effectiveness of the follower’s performance: ability, clarity, help, incentive, evaluation, validity, and environment.
So I as a district manager must manage Rebecca’s performance with the new guidelines using the ACHIEVE model. Rebecca is capable to the post she is assigned as an Assistant Manager which defines her ability. She has knowledge and skills about how to perform the task and achieve the organizational goals. So I must provide her with the facilities to increase her ability. In an organization, all the staffs must be clear about what must be done and how it should be done. So there should be clarity about the tasks to be performed which is also the ability of the staffs to clearly understand. Hence I must be able to make Rebecca understand her performance readiness level as well as to be clear towards her role in an organization. She must be clear towards her vision and mission in an organization.
If Rebecca needs some assistance from the organization to perform the task effectively then it is the duty of the organization as well as myself to help Rebecca achieve task in time and efficiently. To make staffs, employees work better and effectively, management must motivate them by providing some incentives towards the achievement of the goals. In the same way, to increase the performance level of Rebecca, she must be provided rewards and incentives to motivate and increase her willingness to continue to work.
Evaluation means giving feedbacks to the performance of an individual continuously to increase their readiness level. Even though if they are provided with the incentives sometimes the result is not as expected so evaluating their performance makes easy to provide them feedbacks and improve accordingly. Without concerning to valid procedures, company policies no work or task can be performed. So if is my duty as a District Manager to see if the work is done as per the company policies, rules and regulations so that there are no issues later on while performing the task. Recognizing the validity of the task involves the assigning of the human resources to the right job. If the environment in an organization is favourable internally and externally then the employees can simply adopt to the environment which creates a healthy relationship among the individuals. So environment should be maintained.
Hence, I would provide the feedback to Rebecca on a regular basis in order to help her know the performance level. I would provide guidance whenever she is in need of it. I would clarify the company rules and regulations so that there would be confusion or misunderstanding later and mainly I would try to maintain the healthy working environment.
Summary and Conclusion After analyzing this case, it seems that in an organization there must be clear vision towards the effective performance of the individuals. Without the continuous help there cannot be achieved the organizational goal on time. Individuals must be motivated by increasing their willingness to perform better by providing them healthy working environment and regular feedback to their performance. Hence this case relates that even though Axis Inc. has instituted new guidelines Rebecca is not concern towards these as she is more to style and personal branding.
Reference
Adhikari, Dev Raj (2009) Organizational Behavior
Hersey and Blanchard (2008) Management of Organizational Behavior