Organizational Behavior (MCO102)

Mid Term Case Study

Shayantani Twisha (Student No.: 23033694)

“Change is the only constant.”- Heraclitus

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Best way to solve the problem: Training or replacement? Reasons…………………. 3
Critical examination & Identification of the main problems……………………………..3
2 possible solutions………………………………………………………………………....5
Short-term approach……………………………….……………………………………….5
Long-term approach………………………………………………………………………...6
Risks…………………………………………………...……………………………………..7
Appendix………………………..……………………………………………………………8
Reference list………………………………………………………………………………11
Introduction
In the given case, the Portuguese Headquarters of The Central HARDM company,
which sells wood and home improvement materials to the suppliers, contractors, and
amateur professionals, is undergoing transformation, refinement and change in the
behavior of their employees to improve customer service and increase sales. In
doing so, layers of unprofessionalism, behavioral issues and mismanagement are
detected. In this paper, I will critically examine the situation, identify the main
problems, provide two solutions to the problems, and shed some light on what the
best way would be to implement the solutions.
Best way to solve the problem: training or replacement? Reasons.
In my opinion, a mixed method of training, replacement and transformation of
organizational behavior would be the best way to solve the problem. Because
organizational behavior involves the understanding, prediction and control of human
behavior in order to help improve organizational performance and effectiveness. The
behavior of people at work cannot be studied in isolation. “It is necessary to
understand interrelationships with other variables that together comprise the total
organization” (Mullins, 2012).

It is also important to keep in mind that the variables of organizational behavior

framework (Appendix 1) provide parameters within which a number of interrelated
dimensions can be identified – the individual, the group, the organization and the
environment – which collectively influence behavior in work organizations (Mullins,
2012).

Saying that, in this scenario, for most of the problematic or unprofessional

employees and managers, training would be the perfect solution. However, for a
handful of employees having the completely contradicting values of that of the
organization, replacement might be the only option, even though, replacement often
causes disruptions for existing members of an organization; it may result in delays
on important projects; and it can cause problems when employees who are replaced
are the members of teams (Mullins, 2012). Furthermore, replacement is a short-term
solution, training is a mid-term solution but if we want to make this organization a
sustainable and successful one in terms of growth, in the long run, we need a long-
term solution and that would be the transformation of organizational behavior and
values.

Critical examination and identification of the main problems.

After careful consideration, I have identified the following main problems of the
Portuguese Headquarters:
1. Behavior of the sellers
- Discriminatory behavior: treating contractors and amateur professionals
 differently.
- Unprofessional behavior: leaving the counter to chat with their friends,
using vulgar, derogatory, and unprofessional language in front of the
customers, showing obvious contempt for the company’s procedures.
2. Dysfunctional team: The team members are showing a lack of trust towards
the company, commitment and accountability.
3. Problematic management style and organizational culture:
- Regional Director Anne Tifaux wants to get rid of the majority of the sales
staff who can get the work done properly.
- General Director Mr. Hill does not want to let go of the efficient sales staff
even though their behavior is utterly unprofessional and objectionable.
- Anne handing over the regional operational plan to Mr. Hill rather than
planning it together with him, as he has the local and cultural knowledge of
the market.
4. The organization type is a mix of MBI (Management by Instructions) and MBO
(Management by Objectives). But in the time of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty,
Complexity, Ambiguity), the desired organization type should be MBV
(Management by Value) or MSIV (Management by Sustainable Innovational
Values) (Brillo et al., 2015).

To address the behavioral issues of the sellers, I would like to refer to the
organizational iceberg (Appendix 2) which identifies the covert behavioral aspects of
an organization like attitudes, communication patterns, informal team processes,
personality, conflict, political behavior, underlying competencies and skills.

To address the issue of the dysfunctional team, I would like to mention the 5
dysfunctions of a team: lack of trust, conflict avoidance, lack of commitment, lack of
mutual accountability, lack of goals (Lencioni, 2002).
To address the issue of management style, first I would like to refer to the
transformational leadership style because transformational leaders influence their
followers by intellectually stimulating them to become aware of the problems in their
groups and organization and view these problems from a new perspective- one
consistent with the leader’s vision (George and Jones, 2014). And then I would like
to point towards the organizational control too because, Organizational control is
defined as the systematic process through which managers regulate organizational
activities to make them consistent with the expectations established in plans,
targets, and standards of performance. Rather than taking drastic measures like
replacement, the managers of the company should follow the steps of organizational
control: 1. Establish standards of performance (KPIs), 2. Measure actual
performance, 3. Compare performance to standards, 4. Take corrective action.

Lastly, to address the issue of the organization type, I would like to point out that
MBO (Management by Objectives) ensures that the results are delivered with
efficiency but focuses less on the greater sustainable concerns. Whereas MBV
(Management by Values) nurtures a need for creativity to solve complex problems,
where the leadership style is transformational, continually improving processes and
encourages creativity, mutual trust and commitment (Appendix 4) (Brillo et al.,
2015).

2 possible solutions which would help the company overcome the problem they
are facing:
Using the 3 HR concepts- Recruitment and selection, training and development,
employee relations and management, I would like to propose 2 possible solutions to
the problem:
1. Focusing on individual employees to train them, improve the relationship or
replace them (short-term approach). This could also be defined as
revolutionary change. “Revolutionary change is rapid, dramatic, and broadly
focused, and it involves a bold attempt to find new ways to increase
effectiveness. It is likely to result in a radical shift in the way an organization
manages its activities, sets new goals, and creates a new structure for the
organization”. (George and Jones, 2014)
2. Changing the total organizational culture, behavior, values, and leadership
type (long-term approach). This could also be defined as evolutionary
change. “Evolutionary change is gradual, incremental, and narrowly focused-
not drastic or sudden. It involves a constant attempt to improve, adapt, and
adjust strategy and structure incrementally to step by step to respond to
changes in the environment”. (George and Jones, 2014)

Short-term Approach
The short-term approach is time efficient and takes simpler actions for completion.
My task recommendation for this solution is as follows:
1. Training and relationship building workshops for the employees (sellers and
managers):
- Training on customer relationship management
- Bootcamp on managing customer expectations
- Team building workshops
- Company retreat to help internalize the values of the organization
- Townhall meetings to keep the employees constantly motivated
- Weekly hurdle to keep reminding the employees of the organization goals
and targets
2. Replace less than 10% of the employees (Brown, 2014):
- Not all the employees will receive the training and workshops with an open
mind. Some employees will have completely different goals and ideologies
than the organizational goals and values. These employees may never fit
into the workforce of this particular organization, or the organization may
not be the ideal workplace for them. In this case replacing a few
employees would be beneficial for both the company and individuals.
3. Establishing organizational control: Organizational control is defined as the
 systematic process through which managers regulate organizational activities
to make them consistent with the expectations established in the plans,
targets and standards of performance.
- Establishing standards of performance through KPIs (Key Performance
Indicators)
- Measuring actual performance
- Comparing performance to desired standards
- Taking corrective measures

Long-term Approach
On the other hand, the long-term approach is more sustainable. Saying that, it is
essential to understand that changing an organizational culture, behavior, values,
and leadership type is a mountain of a task that may take years to fully realize. It
requires patience, commitment and alignment between the stakeholders and
management. Many things may go wrong in undertaking such a humongous project
but with a good strategy and inclusive approach, it is possible to transform the
culture, belief, vision and behavior of an organization. My task recommendation for
the long-term approach of changing the total organizational culture, behavior,
values, and leadership is as follows:
1. Defining the desired culture: Defining and articulating the desired outcome of
new vision, leadership style, culture, values and behaviors in alignment of the
strategic goals and mission of the company is the first step towards this
organizational transformation, which needs to be done delicately with the
inputs from the key stakeholders and employees.
2. Assessment of the current culture: After defining the desired culture, a
thorough assessment of the current scenario is required to have a better
understanding of the present culture, behavior, and leadership style.
Following are the methods which could be used to assess the current
scenario:
- Employee survey to identify the key problems.
- Interview the management and stakeholders to understand their thought
process and leadership style.
3. Developing a change strategy: A detailed comprehensive strategy needs to
be in place to outline the specific actions, responsibilities and timelines to
chalk out the initiatives, trainings, communication plans and leadership
development.
4. Engaging leadership: This long-term project has the chance of succeeding
only if the top leadership is aligned with the strategy and fully committed to
cultural change. The leaders must act as the role model of the change and
inspire others to embrace the change.
5. Empowering employees: Empowering employees- by involving them to the
change process, encouraging them to provide inputs, making them active
participants to bring in the new culture- is another crucial step in avoiding the
risk of resistance towards the change.
6. Training and development: Training and developmental activities fit naturally
 as the next step in the process of this organizational change. This helps the
employees and managers to adapt to new skills and competencies in
embracing the change of organizational culture and behavior.
7. Monitoring and evaluation of progress: Frequent monitoring and evaluation of
progress is of utmost importance to track the changes and modify the process
accordingly if necessary.
8. Addressing resistance: Expecting and preparing to address resistance from
different layers of the company is another key ingredient for this project to
succeed. Details of the probable resistance are given below in the ‘Risks’
section.
9. Sustaining the change: As Greek philosopher Heraclitus said- “Change is the
only constant”, it is imperative to look out for the change in the VUCA
environment along with making sure that the new culture is embodied within
the company’s processes, policies, and practices to ensure long-term
sustainability.

Risks
It is paramount to watch out for the risks of this long-term sustainable approach
(changing the organizational culture, behavior, values, and leadership type). There
could be resistance towards change from organizational level, group level and
individual level for not succeeding in this project. “One of the main reasons why
organizations find it so difficult to change is organizational inertia, or the pressures
within a company to maintain the status quo and behave as it has always done in
the past”. (George and Jones, 2014)

Organizational-level resistance to change (George and Jones, 2014):

- Power and conflict: When change causes power struggles and
organizational conflict, this slows down decision making.
- Differences in functional orientation: The ‘tunnel vision’ of each function or
division increases organizational inertia. Different functions and divisions
often see the source of a problem differently because they have their own
different perspectives.
- Mechanistic structure: Mechanistic structures are more resistant to change
because the employees who work inside them are supposed to behave in
predictable ways and do not develop the initiative to adjust their behavior
to changing conditions.
- Organizational culture: If the coming organizational change disrupts the
values and norms of the existing organizational culture and forces people
to question what they are doing- and how they should do it- resistance is
likely to follow.
Group-level resistance to change (George and Jones, 2014):
- Group norms: Members of a group may resist change because change
often alters task and role relationships in a group; and when it does, it
disrupts group norms, and the expectations members have of one another.
- Group cohesiveness: Although some level of cohesiveness promotes
 group performance, too much cohesiveness can make group members
slow to recognize opportunities to change and adapt. Group members may
unite to protect their interests at the expense of other groups.
- Groupthink and escalation of commitment: Groupthink and escalation of
commitment can make changing a group’s behavior very difficult.
Groupthink is a pattern of faulty decision making that occurs in cohesive
groups when members discount negative information in order to make it
easier to agree with or conform to each other’s views. Escalation of
commitment worsens this situation.
Individual-level resistance to change (George and Jones, 2014):
- Uncertainty and insecurity: Individuals tend to resist change because they
feel uncertain and insecure about its outcome.
- Selective perception and retention: When change takes place, individual
employees tend to focus only on how it will personally affect them of their
function or division. If they perceive few benefits, they may reject the
change.
- Habit: People have a built-in tendency to return to their original behaviors,
familiar actions and events- a tendency that hinders and prevents change.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, my recommendation for this company is to opt for both a short-term
and a long-term approach at the same time to overcome the problem they are facing
and head towards sustainability. Combining these two approaches would yield the
best result.
Appendix:
1. Organizational Behavior: a convenient framework of analysis

2. Organizational Iceberg
3. Transformational Leadership: Leader-Follower chart

4. Primary characteristics of MBI, MBO, MBV, MSIV

 5. 5 Dysfunctions of a team

Reference list
Brillo, J., Kawamura, K.M., Dolan, S.L. and Fernández-i-Marín, X. (2015). Managing
by Sustainable Innovational Values (MSIV): an Asymmetrical Culture Reengineering
Model of Values Embedding User Innovators and User Entrepreneurs. Journal of
Management and Sustainability, 5(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.5539/jms.v5n3p61.

Brown, P.B. (2014). Should You Fire 10% of Your Employees Every Year? [online]
Inc.com. Available at: https://www.inc.com/paul-b-brown/should-you-fire-10-of-your-
employees-every-year.html.

George, J.M. and Jones, G. (2014). Understanding and managing organizational

behavior. Boston: Prentice Hall.

Lencioni, P.M. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. John Wiley & Sons.

Mullins, L.J. (2012). Management concepts and practice. Harlow, Essex: Pearson
Custom Publishing.