1) Discuss, using the Communication chapter, the ways communication flows in this company. Identify barriers to effective communication in the O'Neill Landscaping organization. Give 3 strategies to improve the communication. 2) Using one of the Leadership theories, describe Shawn's Leadership style. Discuss how he could raise the level of trust again in his team. 3) Explain how Shawn uses (or does not use) each of the 5 bases of Power. How has the use of power by the new Supervisors affected the staff. 4) What type of conflict is evident in this case? Describe it in detail. Go through the conflict process and explain what happened in this team conflict. 5) Compare the O'Neill Landscaping Company to the 7 primary characteristics that capture organizations' culture. Does this company match these characteristics? In what way does the organization match or not these 7 characteristics? How can Shawn create an ethical company? 6) The employees were very resistant to change in the second summer Casey worked at O'Neill Landscape. How could Shawn overcome their resistance? How should he have implemented the change (use Lewin or Kotter's model).

Part 1 During the summer of my second year at university, I (Casey) worked for a small private landscaping company planting shrubs, seeding new lawns, cutting grass, tending flower gardens and fixing patios. The company was located in my hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, which is a wonderful community about 120 km from Toronto. The company was owned and run by Shawn O'Neill, a 40-year-old man who had lived in Kitchener all his life. He had started the company some years ago and not only handled the paperwork (payroll, bills, estimates and so on), but also worked along with the crew six days a week. The crew consisted of five guys ranging in age from 17 to 20 years. We all lived in towns around Kitchener and had gone to the regional high school, which was physically located in Kitchener. Only two of us were attending university. All of us had been hired personally by Shawn following a short, informal interview. I can't be completely certain about the others, but I think all of us and several others sought the job because we needed work, enjoyed the outdoors and had heard that Shawn paid well and was a good guy to work for. Working hours were from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with an hour off for lunch, Monday through Friday. Once in a while we'd work overtime (Saturdays or evenings) to help out some customer who had an urgent need. Each worker began at the same wage with the understanding that hard workers would be rehired the next summer at a higher wage. Several of the crew I was part of, had been rehired under this policy. Most of the customers we serviced lived in Kitchener, knew Shawn personally and respected him. Shawn owned one truck which he used to transport all of us and the necessary supplies and equipment from job to job. Each morning he would read off a list of houses that had to be completed that day. He would then leave it up to us to decide among ourselves who would do what task while at a particular house. We also were the ones who determined the pace of our work pace and how long we would spend at each house. In doing the work itself, we were able to use our own ideas and methods. If we did a good job, Shawn would always compliment us. If we lacked the necessary know-how or did a poor job, Shawn was right there willing to help us. hawn worked along with us doing basically the same work we did. He dressed the same as we did and was always very open and friendly towards us. He seldom "showed his authority" and treated us as equals. Although our workday was scheduled to begin at 8, Shawn never became upset nor penalized us if we were 10 or 15 minutes late. Our lunch hour was usually an hour long starting anytime between 11:30 and 12:30 depending on what time we, the crew, felt like eating. Each member brought his own lunch to work and anytime during the day could take time off to go to the truck for a snack. 4 The crew itself became very well acquainted and we were always free to talk and joke with each other at any time and did so. We enjoyed each other's company, although we did not socialize after hours. We also became very friendly with the customers. They were always eager to talk to us as we worked and Shawn never objected. All in all, the job had a very relaxed, easygoing atmosphere. I for one felt little pressure to hurry and, like the others, respected and liked Shawn very much. The attitude we had toward the job was very high. We sometimes talked among ourselves about how we felt a sense of responsibility toward the job. While we talked and joked a lot while working, little horseplay occurred; and the talking and joking did not interfere with the work. We were always working steadily and efficiently, seeking to keep ahead of schedule. The days seemed to go fairly quickly and a lot seemed to get done. I know Shawn said that our output was 15 percent above that which other landscaping companies experienced with summer crews. We also took a lot of pride in our work. Feeling responsible for the job we did, we were constantly checking and rechecking every job to be sure it was perfect. We were always willing to work overtime for Shawn when he needed us to do so. Part II I returned the following summer to work for Shawn because of the strong satisfaction I had with the job the summers before. So did the others. However, we were in for a surprise. Many things had changed. Shawn had increased the number of workers to 10, bought another truck and hired two young university graduates as crew supervisors. His plan was for him to concentrate on the paperwork and on lining up new customers, leaving the direct guidance of the two work crews to the new supervisors. Shawn had hired the two supervisors during the early spring after interviewing a number of applicants. Both were young (23 and 24) and had degrees in agricultural management - one from Guelph University and one from University of Saskatchewan. They had not known each other previously. We "old timers" were assigned to one crew and five new workers were hired for the other crew. These new workers had little experience in landscaping. Except for the working hours, which were the same as during the previous summer, the two supervisors were told that they could run their crew in any manner they wished as long as they kept to the schedule prepared by Shawn. No one on the crew had known the supervisors before. Shawn had found them through ads in the paper. The supervisors didn't dress quite as informally as Shawn did in the past, perhaps because they didn't do as much actual physical work, but they did dress somewhat casually in 5 blue jeans and shirts. Though we called the supervisors by their first names, they did some nit-picky things. For example, Shawn never cared who drove the truck or who did what job; sometimes a crew member would drive and Shawn would talk with the rest of us. But the supervisors always drove the truck and decided when we would eat. Nor did the supervisors help us unload the tools as Shawn had done. They stood around and watched us. Both supervisors refused to tolerate tardiness in the morning and immediately set up a scheduled lunch hour which would remain the same throughout the summer. We were no longer allowed to go to the truck for a snack during the day and were constantly being watched over by our supervisor. The supervisors assigned us to specific tasks to be done at each job and told us how "they" wanted them to be completed. They also told us how much time we were to spend doing each job. They refused to let us talk to each other or to the customers (except about business) saying that it "only wasted time and interfered with our work." I was disappointed at the new setup and a little bit surprised that Shawn hadn't hired one of the more experienced members of the old crew as supervisor. But I figured it was necessary because of the increased volume of business so I tried to make the best of it. However, very soon my attitude and that of the rest of the old crew fell significantly. We began to really dislike the new supervisors and soon developed a great disinterest in the work itself. While I'm a person who usually is very conscientious and responsible, I have to admit that before long, I, along with the others, began to put little care or concern into my work. The supervisors soon found it very difficult to get anyone to work overtime. The new employees didn't react as strongly as we did, but I could tell that they weren't working with much enthusiasm either. I thought about talking to the supervisors but didn't because I'd only worked there the one year and figured that it was not my place to. The others were older than me and had worked there longer so I figured that they should, but no one did. Instead, we talked among ourselves and individually we griped to Shawn. Shawn didn't seem to know how to deal with our complaints. He passed them off by saying, "Oh, I'll talk to the supervisors and straighten it out with them." But nothing changed and in fact they seemed to clamp down more and push even harder. This only made us madder. Our work rate continued to fall. Incidentally, throughout this period we had little social interaction with the supervisors, but I noticed that they became more friendly with each other. Meanwhile the new crew's difficulties increased. Being new and inexperienced, they couldn't do the work as easily as we could. Also the supervisors didn't, or couldn't, give them any adequate training. Their productivity went lower and lower. The supervisors were very upset and yelled at them, pushing them to get out their quota. We felt sorry for them and tried to help them; but we concentrated on meeting our own quotas. I don't think Shawn realized that the supervisors were not teaching the new crewmen. He was very busy and not around much and I think he assumed that they were training the new men. I think he began to put pressure on the supervisors as the work rate fell, because things continued to get worse. We couldn't talk to customers, which surprised them. We couldn't even accept drinks. Production lagged greatly as compared to the previous summer and the 6 two supervisors struggled to meet the schedule and deal with customer complaints about quality. By July 30th, the overall productivity of the company was 10 percent below "normal" and way below the previous summers. Shawn became very concerned and wondered what to do about the situation. He asked you for your help, as he knows you are studying OB.