A company founded in 2020 JJ, was designed to help foreigners who need assistance buying products on the Chinese website Ali express. Originally, JJ was a small start-up business, created by two Americans, employing 3-4 local Chinese students part-time and operating out of the living room of one of the founders. However, after five years, the company expanded its operations.

JJ rented a larger office space and hired additional staff. They now have more than 20 full-time employees called customer service advisors who answer phone call and emails from customers regarding Ali express, JD.com and a variety of other Chinese websites and services. Each employee works in a cubicle with a desktop computer with a headset microphone.

The staff members answer questions, deal with sales, returns and customer concerns regarding the delivery of goods. They are expected to be efficient, courteous, polite and effective at cross-cultural communication in both English and Chinese. The staff work 5 days a week for 9 hours a day with 45 minutes for lunch. They are paid 6000 RMB per month before taxes. They receive basic health insurance, national holidays and get a 2000 RMB bonus for New Years.

The workers are all local Chinese from different places around China. There are also two new managers who are from Canada who are quite strict. They complain about the English ability of the team members and their method of dealing with the customers. The two Americans who started the company are typically not in the office, as they are trying to expand the company to other countries and are often travelling.

Recently, JJ has started to have some serious problems with absenteeism and counterproductive work behaviors among the employees, such as leaving trash around the office and incivility to customers. A new employee quit after only two weeks. When asked why she was leaving, she said that JJ was the most stressful and unpleasant place shed ever worked. The owners are very worried about this, also because new competitors are entering the market.

In a recent staff survey, some of the problems highlighted were that employees were often in a bad mood, felt underpaid, unappreciated and overworked. They would consider working for a competitor if the benefits or environment were better. As a result, JJ has hired your team to assist them in their efforts to turn the company around and improve morale.

1. Provide an overview of the current issues at TMAI and how they relate to OB.

2. Discuss how EITHER psychology OR sociology could address these issues.

3. Provide at least 5 recommendations on how to increase organizational effectiveness based on practical considerations relevant to OB themes.