Running head: OB CASE STUDY #1

Manuel Rivera OB Case Study #1 MGT361 - Organizational Behavior Siena Heights University 5/28/2013

OB CASE STUDY #1 Question #1: Schwartzs Value Theory

Schwartzs Value Theory is his belief that values are motivational in that they represent broad goals that apply across contexts and time, (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, pg. 152). Reading the case study and then comparing the Definitions of Values and Motives in Schwartzs Theory on page 153 of the textbook, I have determined that the managers of Bain & Company, Home Depot, and Best Buy are exhibiting the Benevolence value the most. Benevolence is described as the preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact (helpful, honest, forgiving, loyal, and responsible) (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, pg. 153). The managers from Bain & Company knew that in the times of a recession/lay-off, you could secure the most talented people. Doing this, keeps some employees working and keeps the company productive and profitable. To add on this, Home Depots assistant managers were given extended stock grants and store employees were given lowered sales and profit targets so they can still be qualified for yearly bonuses. This assisted in the highest percentage of employees receiving bonuses in the first half of the year. To further my determination, Best Buy opened up communications between employees and upper-level management (executives). Surveys were available online for employees to recommend ways to reduce cost versus reducing workforce (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, Pg. 177). Question #2: Steve Ellis Steve Ellis is nothing if not an opportunist. As written in the text, when other companies were downsizing during the recession, Steve was hiring; not only hiring, but hiring competitively the talent that was downsized. He knew that he could take advantage of the recession by scooping up talent at a minimal cost. The recession didnt seem to negatively affect Steve, quite

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the opposite. He was thriving on it. This lends heavily to the affective and cognitive components of his attitude. In this instance, Steves behavior about the situation seemed controlled and calculating. He knew that with the retention, talented workforce would be downsized and thus he could get them for a lower salary. This action of scooping up the talented workforce for a minimal salary lends itself to Steves behavioral component of his attitude. Question #3: Employee Involvement Employee involvement is critical to the success of any good business, especially during downsizing. According to the text, as the housing market crumbled, Home Depot cut jobs in its corporate offices as well as closed 15 locations. In order to boost morale, the Chairman wanted to set realistic company goals. Additionally, they extended restricted stock grants to assistant managers and lowered sales and profit targets that hourly employees have to meet to receive bonuses. These actions could lead to higher employee involvement. In the aspect of employee involvement, Best Buy went about it in a more direct way. When Best Buy stock dropped more than 40% in a month, the company decided to solicit cost saving ideas direct from the employees themselves (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, pg. 177). Using online surveys, Best Buy received over 900 cost saving measure to assist in the overall profitability of the company. John Pershing, executive vice president for human capital said, When you know you can make a difference and youre part of a solution, it can change your mind completely, (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, pg. 177). Question #4: Ajzens Theory Ajzens Theory is divided into three parts, Attitude toward the behavior, Subjective Norm, and Perceived behavior control. In order for managers to increase employee performance during a recession, managers need to address all three aspects of the theory. Lets begin with

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Attitude toward the behavior. The text describes this as the degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the behavior in question. Employees are naturally going to be on edge when a recession and downsizing occurs. Job security is a very important aspect to job satisfaction. A way that managers can increase employee performance in this part is to keep open and transparent communications with their employees. Employees understand and feel more secure when communications are not vague or kept from them. The sense of organizational involvement or commitment goes a long way with employees during downsizing. Secondly, Subjective Norm is referred to as the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior; in essence, peer pressure. I think managers could get their key employees involved in communications to other employees. When there is a buy-in from more veteran or trusted employees to the goals of the company, other employees are more willing to fall in line and accept the changes. This lends itself directly to the second part of Ajzens theory. The final part, Perceived behavioral control refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior and it is assumed to reflect past experience as well as anticipated impediments and obstacles. Managers will need to address the fact that the wanted behavior may not be easily implemented because of the employees past experiences in similar situations. Question #5: Advice to managers during a recession Some advice I would give to managers during a recession would be to stop, think, and reflect on possibilities before implementing changes. More often than not, many businesses will have the knee-jerk reaction and start downsizing as the major way to cut costs. As Steve Ellis show us, that move may not be the best. To survive, and better yet thrive during the time of a recession, employee engagement is key. Make sure your employees feel part of the decisions; Best Buy did this with their online surveys. Try and keep as much morale going as possible,

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whether this is done with financial incentives or not like Home Depot did with lowering sales goals. Finally, above all else, I would say that open and transparent communication is essential, as Edward E. Lawler III, director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California said.