ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (OBEO) ASSIGNMENT HANDOUT AND MARKING SCHEME CASE ANALYSIS MOD. The following represent the steps that you should take in working through your case You will not necessarily submit the evidence from each step in your report, but the analysis done at each step will provide the necessary foundation upon which to write your report Step 1: Inventory of Facts Brief listing of key facts (people, places, events, dates, results, etc.) in case Step 2: Statement of Problems) Concise statement of major problem(s) in case Problems stated as things to be corrected or resolved. Group related problems together Step 3: Analysis of Causes Identification and analysis of all possibile causes of the problems in the case. Step 4: Theory Application Identification of all theories or models that might apply to these problems Step 5: List of Possible Solutions Identification of possible solutions to each problem as stated What objectives are achieved with each solution? Step 6: Justification of Preferred Solution Presentation of a recommended solution and a justification for this choice You should not present every possibility, rather you should limit yourself to presenting the most convincing, cohesive solution Step 7: Evaluation of Preferred Solution What are the implications (positive and negative consequences of your decision? Step 8: Theory Application Which theories are most applicable in this situation? Why? Use the theory to help you justify your choice of solution Step 9. Implementation How would you carry out your solution? Provide concrete action plans for short and long-term 2013 March 2013 REQUIREMENTS FOR CASE STUDY REPORTS After completing your analysis of the assigned case study, use the following guidelines to prepare your report. Your report should have five sections Case Summary This section should have one or two paragraphs that present the information from Step 1 of your analysis Major Problems and Causes Use the results from Step 2 and Step 3 for this section Describe the major problems you have identified, along with their probable causes Possible solutions Use the results of Steps to describe possible solutions. Link the possible solutions with the theories identified in Step 4. Recommended Action This is the most important section of your report. In it, you will present the results of Steps 6.7 and 8 of your analysis. Implementation Plan For each action, state who should be responsible and when the action should be taken Case 9: Boundaryless Organizations Learning Goals The multinational organization is an increasingly common and important part of the economy. This case takes you into the world of a cutting-edge music software business seeking success across three very different national and organizational cultures. Its managers need to make important decisions about how to structure work processes so that employees can be satisfied and productive doing very different tasks. Major Tople Areas Organizational structure and boundaryless organizations (Chapter 13) Organizational culture (Chapter 10) Diversity and teams (Chapter 6) Organizational socialization (Chapter 10) Organizational change (Chapter 14) The Scenario Neskool Grooves is a transnational company that develops music software used to compose music, play recordings in clubs, and produce albums. Founder and CEO Gerd Finger is, understandably, the company's biggest fan 1 started this company from nothing, from just me, my ideas, and my computer. I love music-love playing music, love writing programs for making music, love listening to music and the money is nice, too."Finger says he never wanted to work for someone else, to give away his ideas andlet someone else profit from them. He wanted to keep control over them, and their image. "Newsbol Grooves is always ahead of the pack. In this business, if you can't keep up. you're out. And we are the company everyone else must keep up with Everyone knows when they get something from is, they're getting only the best and the newest The company headquarters are in Berlin, the nerve centre for the organization, where new products are developed and the organizational strategy is established Newssos outsources a great deal of its coding work to programmers in Bangalore, India. Its marketing efforts are increasingly based in its Toronto offices. This division of labour is at least partially based on technical expertise and cost issues. The German team excels at design and production tasks. Because most of Neusodis customers are English speakers, the Toronto office has been the best group to write ads and market products. The Bangalore offices are filled with outstanding programmers who don't require the very high rates of compensation you would find in Germanor Canadian offices. The combination of high-tech software, rapid reorganization, and outsourcing makes Newsboo the very definition of a boundaryles sorganization Finger also makes the final decision on all hiring for the company and places a heavy emphasis on independent work styles. Why would I want to put my company in the hands of people I can't count on?" he asks with a laugh "They have to believe in what we're doing here, really understand our direction and be able to go with it. I'm not the babysitter, I'm not the school master handing out homework. School time is over. This is the real world." The Work Quare Employees want to work at Neyskool Grooves because it's cutting edge. Newskool's core market is dance musicians and bus people who appreciate that while relatively expensive, Newskool is a very high-quality and inovative brand. Newsbool sees itself as a trendsetter, and this strategy has tended to pay off. While compettors develop similar products and therefore need to continually lower the costo.com.twith.cosamler. Neskool has kept revenues high by creating completely new products that don't face this 6:12 Unfortunately, computer piracy has eroded News ability to make money with just software-based music tools, and it has had to move into the production of hardware, such as drum machines and amplifiers that incorporate its computer technology. Making this messive market change might be challenging for some companie, but for organization that reinverts itself every two to three yearslike skool does the bigger fight is a constant war against stagnation and rigidity The organization has a very decentralized structure with only 115 employees, the original management philosophy of allowing all employees to participate in decision making and innovation is still the blood of the company's culture. One developer notes. Ahol they want you to be part of the process. If you are a person who wants to do what you're told at work you're in trouble. Most times, they can't tell you what they want you to do not they don't even know what comes next! That's why they hire employees who are creative, people who can try to make the rest thing happen. It's challenging but a lot of us think it's very much an exciting environment." The Boundaryless Environment Because so much of the work can be performed on computers, Finger decided early to allow employees to work outside the office. The senior management in Berlin and Toronto are both quite happywith this arrangement Because some marketing work does require face to hace contact, the Toronto office has weakly in person meetings. Employees who like Newstod are happiest when they can work through the night and sleep most of the day, firing up their computers to get work done the drop of hat. Project discussions often happen via social networking on the company's Intranet The Bangalore offices have been less eager to work with the boundaryless model Managers say their computer programmers find working with solitie structure rather uncomfortable. Theyare more used to the idea of a strong leadership structure and well-defined work processes. When started," says one manager, "Gardid getting in buch with his would be no problem. geting in touch with Toronto would be no problem. We're small we're family. he said. Well, it is a problem WhenI call Toronto, they say to wait until their meeting day. I can't always wait until they decide to get together. I call Gerd he says. Figure it out. Then when I do, he says it is right and we have to start again. The just told me in the first place, we would have done Some recent events have also shake up the company's alwayof doing business Developers in the Berlin office had a major communications breakdown about their hardware controller, which required many hours of discussion to resolve. It seems that people who seldometface to face had al made progress-but had moved in opposite directions Totest and design the company's hardware products, employees apparently need to do more than send each other code; sometimes they need to collaborate face to face. Some spirited disagreements have been vloed within the organization about how to move forward in this new environment At the same time, the Toronto office was experiencing challenges in its ability to execute its marketing plans. According to Marketing Director Sandra Pelham, "Now that we were producing hardware-reinstruments we finally thought. All right, this is something we can work with We had a whole slated musicians and DJs and producers to contact for endorsements, but Gerd said, "No way." He didn't want customers who only cared thata celebrity likedus. He scrapped the whole campaign. He says we're all about creativity and doing our own thing until we don't want to do things his way." Although the organization is not without problems. there is de question Neskool has been a standout success in the computer music software industry. While many companies are failing. Newslissing its market power to push forward the next generation of dectronic musicaling tools As Finger puts it "Once the rest of the industry has gotten together and Pelham, Now that we were producing hardware-real instruments-we finally thought, All right, this is something we can work with. We had a whole slate of musicians and DJs and producers to contact for endorsements, but Gerd said, "No way.' He didn't want customers who only cared that a celebrity liked us. He scrapped the whole campaign. He says we're all about creativity and doing our own thing until we don't want to do things his way." Although the organization is not without problems, there is little question Newskool has been a standout success in the computer music software industry. While many companies are failing. Newskoolisusing its market power to push forward the next generation of electronic music-making tools. As Finger puts it "Once the rest of the industry has gotten together and figured out how they're all going to cope with change, they'll look around and see that we're already three miles ahead of them down the road to the future." Discussion Questions 1. Identify some of the problems likely to occur in a boundaryless organization such as Now.skool Grooves. What are the advantages of boundaryless organizations? 2. Consider some of the cultural issues that will affecta company operating in various parts of the world. What actions would you take to ensure that Newsool's different offices work effectively with one another? 3. Based on what you know about motivation, personality, and organizational culture, what types of people are likely to be satisfied in each functional area of the company? Use concepts from the job characteristics modelto describe what might need to change to increase employee satisfaction in all areas. 4. What types of human resources practices need to be implemented in this sort of organization? What principles of selection and hiring are likely to be effective? Which Big Five personality traits and abilities might Newsbool supervisors want to use for selection