Section A: Case Study. You must answer the ONE compulsory question that relate to the Case Study in the areas of OB and HRM. (600 words)
Human Resource Management (HRM) and Human Resource Development (HRD)
Section B: Is related on Organizational Behavior. (500 words) NOT RELATED TO THE CASE STUDY
Section C: Is related on Human Resource Management 🙁 500 words) NOT RELATED TO THE CASE STUDY
Make use of both theory and practical examples as appropriate in each answer
A-
Alpha Case Study
David Turner was born and raised in Brighton. Since he was a teenager he wanted to be a successful businessman. In 2015, after many trials and errors, he made his dream a reality bringing into existence a consulting firm that specialized in general business and recruitment services. He established Alpha. His goal was to create a firm that could make a big difference to its clients. His mind was always occupied with the view that many organizations could learn from ‘him’. As the sole founder of the business he spent time thinking about the long-term vision and how he could bring it to fruition. Alpha was divided into three business service areas that included (a) performance improvement (b) change management (c) employee engagement. His motto was Use Alpha to Become Better! During the first two years, Turner was fully involved in the recruitment, selection, training and development operations of his business. He created a small team of people where he felt that they would represent his values and ideals. The values were (a) customer satisfaction (b) trust and (c) commitment to excellence. He felt inspired with the idea of having a truly committed workforce that would be proactive in problem-solving and make a big difference to clients.
Turner’s business passion started with much excitement. The ‘client’ was to be the sole focus of attention. He expected his employees to work extra hard and do all that was necessary in order to get results done. The dress-code was strictly formal. The creation of an open space was designed to encourage collaboration. Feeling exhausted was part of the job. He appointed one Service Leader to be in charge of each service department. Turner selected individuals on the basis of his self- preferred personality traits. He wanted people to follow his own leadership and management style. These individuals were committed to meeting financial targets and expected other team members to follow recommendations without exerting much challenge or resistance. As Turner was the managing director he felt that he should be the one providing the right direction for everyone. Hence, Turner was involved in all parts of the organization as this was the business he passionately spent time and effort to bring into existence. Between the years 2015-2019 the company grew from a team of 5 to 15 people. Most of the clients had come to Alpha because of personal recommendations: Turner and his two close team members knew them from previous jobs.
During late 2019 Alpha started to experience a severe performance decline. There were hardly any new clients coming to ask for his business services. Even though the company happened to have some repeat customers, it did not have new recommendations. Turner started to worry about the possible reasons for this decline and what to do about it. He took the decision to talk to some of his past clients about their experience in using Alpha’s business services. The clients were very honest with him and told him that even though they were happy in the beginning, nevertheless, they did not think the services made such a big difference to their performance. By getting information from more clients he found that the services seemed ‘irrelevant’ to what the clients really needed. Turner knew that he needed to do something in order to address the problem.
He decided to gather all the employees together and warned them that the situation needed to change quickly. People started to feel numb about losing their jobs and were worried about how to respond. He asked them to comment on his findings and noticed that there was not much feedback. Turner was convinced that if his employees improved their commitment to the job then they would be able to get better results. In a meeting with all Service Leaders Turner expressed his frustration. He had many questions but very few answers. He felt that his Service Leaders had let him down and he was anxiously looking for ways to improve the situation but he did not know what changes to make. In one of these meetings he got particularly frustrated with one of the Service Leaders who seemed to imply that there were many ‘unknown’ issues coming from other members of staff. The particular Service Leader seemed to imply that there was little room for change coming from employees that had direct dealings with clients. The Service Leader made an additional effort to suggest how changes are needed in the business and for changing the structure. Turner finished the meeting by suggesting that there was a clear vision and strategy that should be followed. Turner felt that introducing new changes, during this vulnerable period for the business, would be fatal. He finished the meeting stating ‘I have invested everything into this business and now I see it perishing!’
Case Study Question
By making use of relevant Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management theories discuss the possible reasons that led Alpha into crisis and what could be done to address the situation.
Section B:
Organizational Behavior
Question: Discuss how and why organizations can benefit from promoting groups and teams in the workplace. Please make use of examples to support your use of theory.
Section C:
Human Resource Management:
Question: Define employee engagement and discuss two methods with which management can make changes in order to improve it in the workplace. Please make use of examples to support your use of theory.