Case 1:
Hank James has been section head for the accounting group at Yake Company for 14 years. His boss, Mary Stein, feels that Hank is about ready to be moved up to the corporate finance staff, but it is company policy to send people like Hank to the University Executive Development Program before such a promotion is made. Hank has enrolled in the program; one of the first parts deals with organizational behavior. Hank felt that after 14 years of managing people, this would be a snap. However, during the discussion on organizational behavior, the professor made some comments that really bothered Hank. The professor said:
Most managers know their functional specialty but do a lousy job of managing their people. One of the problems is that just because managers have a lot of experience with people, they think they are experts. The fact is that behavioral scientists are just beginning to understand human behavior. In addition, to effectively manage people, we also have to somehow be able to better predict and control organizational behavior. Some models are now developed and research is accumulating that we hope will help the manager better understand, predict, and manage organizational behavior. Hank is upset by the fact that his professor apparently discounts the value of experience in managing people, and he cannot see how a conceptual framework that some professor dreamed up and some esoteric research can help him manage people better.
Hank is upset by the fact that his professor apparently discounts the value of experience in managing people, and he cannot see how a conceptual framework that some professor dreamed up and some esoteric research can help him manage people better.
ASSIGNMENT
please read and analyze assigned case. Your response for the case should be numbered and provide the following:
1. Summarize the key Organizational Behavior (OB) issues in the case relative to this week’s material (at least 2 key issues MUST be identified). Be sure to speak in Organizational Behavior language, using appropriate terminology to identify the concepts and issues you identify.
2. Clearly link the key issues in the case back to relevant and specific course material covered. Be specific by identifying specific instances and scenarios in the case which demonstrate the Organizational Behaviour(OB)issues and concepts identified. Explain how they are reflective of those specific OB issues.
3. Make at least one recommendation(s) of how each of the key issues you identified should be handled at the organizational level of the case’s main character. Justify the merit of each of your recommendations and be sure to include your rationale for why you expect them to be effective in addressing the issues.
4. Propose at least one executive or corporate level intervention for any one of your key issues to recommend how upper management can also play a part in addressing that issue. This response should be different from any of the recommendations offered in #3. Be sure to clearly identify which OB issue your organization level/executive level intervention is meant to address and how the intervention would be of benefit.