CASE III :

CREATIVE TOYS COMPANY

The role of social system in the case was highly important

because in the organization, The Creative Toys Company, all the
people in it and their relationships to one another are mutually
interdependent. This was evident in the case wherein in the
transportation department, the eight members divided their
work among themselves in order produce more toys. Thus, at
the beginning, their department surpassed all other
departments in production for 12 months.

The impact on productivity is that the employees had a

dysfunctional effect on the organization because they were
unwilling to use their talents and were resistant to to
organizational changes. This was based on the case wherein the
physical layout of the department did not facilitate efficient
traffic flow to and from the other departments hence the plant
manager decided to call in consultants to determine a way
production could be increased without physical expansion and
the suggestion was for the rearrangement of the work areas in
the transportation department. Two months after the change
was implemented, the department’s productivity was declining
hence it seemed they didn’t want to do good with their job
because they were unsatisfied with the organizational change.
In terms of the organization’s communication, it seems that the
organization was not able to convey the key elements of the
firm’s culture and vividly reinforce the values of the
organization. This was based on the case wherein the plant
manager tried to convey to Mr. Wilson the problem of the
department but instead of keeping an open mind and listening
to the needs of his employees, he just disregarded it. By not
listening to his employees, Mr. Wilson did not give them the
chance to have individualization which led the employees to
rebel since they didn’t have a strong impact or influence on the
organization.

An informal organization is defined as a network of personal

and social relationships (alliances, cliques, friendships) that
arise as people associate with other people in a work
environment. In the case, this informal organization caused the
issue that Mr. Wilson was trying to figure out. A system could
be considered as the heart of an organization that makes its
different departments function well just like organs, but it
should never be forgotten that it is still the humans that run the
system. Without humans, the system of a company or an
organization, no matter how technologically advanced it is, will
be useless. As shown in the case, Mr. Wilson even hired special
consultants to analyse and change the business process but in
the end, they found out that the problem they were looking for
was not in the system but actually in the people running the
system, which were the employees. This is because the
employees had an informal organization brought about by a
single reason which is salary related. The informal organization
is their way of voicing out their concern to the management
and making their presence felt. Their somehow rebellious act
caused a dysfunctional effect to the company that forced the
management to look for the current issue affecting the
company’s performance.

There are a lot of factors that motivate people. Some

motivations are just because of a deadline, some because of
the rewards they get for doing a great job, or just the self
fulfilment involved in the whole process of doing the job.
Motivation also contributes a lot in the quality of output or
work and plays a good role in maximizing a person’s potential.
Making a person feel important, and giving him the proper
respect and value as a person will make him feel motivated to
do better and maintain this image that you have of him
especially if you are the boss. Although, giving a person a
reason not to get motivated can have its toll on you as a leader
and as part of an organization that is output oriented. Lack of
motivation will transform a person’s point of view towards
work, lack of motivation will turn every task into a burden
instead of an opportunity to strive and do better. In the case,
Mr. Wilson probably was a nice boss due to the fact that his
workers has stayed with him for at least 2 years. The problem
comes in when there is an issue involving all workers that affect
their motivation to work, which is their low salary. No matter
how much changes to the system Mr. Wilson does, the results
stayed the same because this one issue has caused the workers
to not strive to do better anymore. They lacked the motivation
to prove their worth to Mr. Wilson by actually trying to do
more than what is expected of them.