Case 4 Lita Espinosa

ABELLA ANCUNA ASIDDAO MAGPAYO CAPISTRANO YU

BA251 07/19/2013

Lita Espinosa

Group 4

Case Context Lita Espinosa, a new-hire in a garment factory, has a high regard for her work. She works diligently and even exceeds expectations of the company, finding satisfaction in producing more than what is expected. However, other workers did not receive this well, as Litas dedication sends a bad signal to the other workers and this created a gap between Lita and the informal group of the factory. Lita ignored all the incivility and bullying they showed to her and just focused more on her work instead. Tension between them, however, aggravated when one of the members of the informal group, Marietta Sison, accused Lita of stealing. They engaged in a heated argument which made Lita escalate the situation to their manager, Mr. Rustico Buenafe. Mr. Buenafe assured Lita to look into her problem but asked her to file a written complaint. In her letter, Lita stated how her co-workers have changed their treatment towards her when she started producing more output among others. It even reached to the point of them isolating her. Lita has come into an observation that these workers who intimidate her are the old-timers and social loafers and oftentimes engage themselves in gossips and unproductive talks. Non-conformist Lita never reacted to verbal abuse and other harsh remarks from her co-workers until that one encounter with Marietta Sison. One of her coworkers gave Lita pieces of advice concerning the norms being set by the informal group in the factory and the standards that Lita should not go beyond.

Framework for Analysis The case of Lita Espinosa is an illustration of group behavior which describes the dynamic effects of Social Impact and Social Norms set by an organized informal group in the company. There are rules and standards by which each member is expected to comply or conform. Failure to conform to the group conduct is viewed as deviance by others. Taking the point of view of the manager, Mr. Buenafe, the group will identify factors that led Lita, Marietta and the rest of the informal group to behave that way. Recommendations will be provided to help address the issues concerning the behavior of the factory workers.

Analysis Lita Espinosa as an Individual Lita Espinosa is a wife to a bank security guard and a mother of four young children. She underwent two years of college before she got married. She previously worked with a

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Group 4

security agency but got laid off. She was employed at the garment factory after having decided to help with the family finances. Lita demonstrated high levels of job involvement and organizational commitment. She believes in the principles of discipline, subordination of individual to general interest, fair pay, and system of hierarchy, order, equity and initiative as she subjects herself to the organizational goals. She is very compliant to what the organization asks and expects of her because it was clear to her what her role was when she was briefed by the manufacturing supervisor. Her role perception, therefore, matched that of the supervisors role expectations. Her sense of individualism and personal engagement were evident because she is efficient on her own and is highly productive and motivated. Lita, driven to succeed in her work and to prove herself, did as what was required of her and became efficient. She even felt like she can do more. This manifests that her own achievement at work is a source of increased self-worth and morale.

The Group and the Group Structure In the perspective of the psychological contract, there is an unwritten agreement between employee and management on acceptable working conditions, performance feedback, work ethics and the like. This must have been overly relied on by the company as it looked as if the role perceptions and the role expectations do not match. This incongruence greatly influences managements impression on employee efficiency and effectiveness therefore accepting the current productivity levels set by the reference group. In effect, the nonmembers develop job dissatisfaction and job-induced tension and their output level differ from the customary standards. On the side of the members, the accepted productivity levels restrict individual capabilities. The groups properties - Norms and Conformity - are very clearly seen in this case. All groups have established norms and these are the acceptable standard of behavior shared by the members of a group that expresses what each individual should and should not do under certain circumstances. When agreed and accepted by the groups, norms become a powerful tool that influences members behavior with very minimal external controls because of conformity. As a member of a group, you desire acceptance by the group. Thus you are susceptible to conforming to the groups norms. Even with such norms established, it is considerably observable in this case that there is low status congruence in the group as depicted by employees other than Lita who were isolated from the group. It was hard to become a regular member because of the differing values of these deviants and isolates to that of the group.

Lita Espinosa

Group 4

The Situational Factors Lita Espinosa is being detested and intimidated by the informal group in the manufacturing because she is excelling at her role. Before she came in, the employees performance norm is pegged at a certain level of output and members helped one another to ensure that the appropriate level of output produced by each person is almost the same. With this, their social identity ascertains that each individual is doing alright since their output is somehow controlled. The formal group is thus assumed to be in the performing stage, the fourth in the group development model, wherein their output is accepted by all including the management. Because of her apparent proactive personality, Lita is significantly up scaling the productivity level affecting the complacent stature of the reference group. The workgroup, as a defense for their social identity and protection of their self-esteem, is reacting negatively to her because she does not conform to their group dynamics in productivity making their performance seem mediocre. That act of not submitting to those forces at work expresses a deviant workplace behavior which means the voluntary behavior that violates the significant organizational norms and, in doing so, jeopardizes the well-being of the groups members. Since Lita is a deviant and is a threat to the social loafers, she is treated negatively so that she will start complying with the norms and act in line with the groups interests. It is likely that there are people with considerably high status controlling the workgroups for people to begin ostracizing Lita. Some members may not be as in support of the norm but are necessitated and compelled to because of the need to conform. Here enters Maslows Need-Hierarchy Theory on Social Needs because of the individuals want to develop social relationships through group consensus and on Esteem due to the desire of maintaining a favorable self-concept.

Resulting Group Processes and Behaviors that affect the company As we know, Litas performance was above that of her peers. In a perfect scenario, this would have raised the bar of performance higher for the group, making the team strive to attain or exceed that higher level of performance. However, a psychological phenomenon called Groupthink deters the employees from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views. Groupthink depicts a situation in which the group is pressured for conformity. In the case of Lita, her performance was attacked rather than be realistically or critically thought about. Certainly, Groupthink is evident in Litas situation which severely hinders their overall performance. Thinking about the problem, we see that Lita was not the only one who could perform better than the rest of the group. Evidently, we see that the employees do not try to maximize their

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Group 4

individual yields as their output is already controlled by a group performance norm that determined its idea of a fair output for all. The workers fear that extensive variations in the levels of output would mean layoffs for unproductive personnel or reprimands and punishment for slow laborers. So the group established their proper levels of production. In this case, being part of the group means being pressed towards conformity and therefore wanting to avoid being visibly different. The members helped in safeguarding practically same levels of outputs. Only the on the line producers, those members of the group who share the group common values, are satisfied with their work. Deviants and isolates, on the other hand, tend to be less satisfied because of their situation. Deviants produce more and isolates less than the regular, but both kinds are ostracized by the reference group. Upon the onset of the situation, Lita initiated the complaint. Her personality and aspirations were reasons why she was prompted to voice out her concerns.

Recommendation Short-term: Addressing Conflict between Lita and Marietta While we recognize that the norms set by the informal group has its implication towards the organization as a whole, we feel the call for corrective actions on the issues that need immediate attention and that is the conflict between Lita and Marietta. As a manager, it is important that Mr. Buenafe displays a neutral stance at all times. Addressing the issues immediately and directly once it arises prevents the dispute to worsen. The group suggests that the manager should speak with each party separately and privately first to have their share of the story. It is essential that the manager is able to qualify specific details that fuelled the tension. Once both parties have aired their side, bring them together for a conflict resolution meeting. Give them time to speak and solicit their ideas on how the problem may be resolved. Make both parties understand that their behavior affects the organization. After clearly discussing the conflict by identifying factual statements, encourage a compromise which both parties will agree upon. This may help bridging the gap between the parties involved. This also discourages disputes due to personal disagreements while sending out a strong stand against ostracizing by the management.

Long Term: Fostering harmonious and cohesive workforce 1 - Re-orient and/or Launch Superordinate Goals that are congruent with team goals

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Establishing that each member is a part of the success of the whole company plays an important role for the employees. Having superordinate goals that are congruent with the team/individuals goal would help motivate employees and thus increase their performance because he/she could easily identify his/her work with the companys output.

2 - Clarify (group) Role Expectations and perceptions to minimize or eliminate conflicts High congruence between a bosss and an employees perceptions about the job correlate strongly with high employee satisfaction.

3 - Foster individual accountability Implementing Performance Measures and Peer Evaluation Programs

A well-established performance measure would allow management objectively compare measure each individual. This will also contribute in identifying what aspects of an individual need to be improved on and what needs to be sustained. Furthermore, this would help as a motivational tool challenge an individual to achieve. Employing Hybrid Incentive

This means rewarding outstanding individual performances and unique contributions while still giving importance to cooperative effort through Group Awards.

4 - Promote group cohesiveness and workforce motivational strategies Create small groups (5-9 members) and establish team goals to create a common purpose and direction. Smaller groups are known to be faster and more effective in completing action tasks than larger ones, and individuals perform better in smaller groups. Smaller groups also tend to minimize social loafing or the tendency for an individual to expend less effort when working collectively than alone because the size matters with respect to cohesiveness. Additionally by setting up group goals, the group can now have a common purpose to strive towards which effectively increases the overall output and focus of the group. Set up team building activities to increase time spent with each other, to create a climate of trust, and to arouse intergroup competition. Levels of engagement are heightened with competition especially when the participants find the activities interesting and worthwhile enough. Intergroup competition can motivate group

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members to strive for a common goal. It shifts the focus of the individual members to a shared end result causing everyone to contribute for the teams success.

5 - Instigate an Employee Manual and Code of Conduct The company will need to provide formal policies related to its working conditions, performance management program, work ethics and employee behavior. These regulations and requirement will provide a procedural framework for misconduct and unacceptable workplace behavior. The company will not tolerate inefficiencies and bullying because it will be less costly to terminate and hire a better factory worker having the same skillset than have continuous conflicts.

Reference
Robbins and Judge.Organizational Behavior. 15th edition.